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1. Newcastle. 

2. Hull. 

3. London. 

4 Dover. 

5 Portsmouth. 

6. Plymouth. 

7. Bristol. 

8. Milford Haven. 

9. Liverpool. 
10. Whitehaven. 




GROTESQUE OUTLINE MAP OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 



VOL. I. 



THE 



SOCIAL HISTORY 



OF 



GREAT BRITAIN 



DURING THE REIGNS OF THE STUARTS, 

\ 

BEGINNING WITH THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, 



THE PERIOD OF SETTLING THE UNITED STATES. 



WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGfS. 



By WILLIAM GOODMAN 
VOL. I. 



THIRD EDITION. 



" Reade me, and bee not wrothe, 
I say nothing but thee trothe." 

W. Rot. 



NEW YORK : 
WM. a GRAHAM, TRIBUNE BUUJOINGS, 

161 NASSAU STREET. 

1847. 



" To be unacquainted with the events which have taken place before you were 
born, is to continue to live in childish ignorance ; for where is the value of human 
life, unless memory enables us to compare the events of our own times with those of 
ages long gone by." — Cicero. 



li 1^3-73 



[Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by 

William GooDMAif, 
in the Clerk's Ofl&ce of the Southern District of New York.] 



stereotyped by Vlncdnt L. DfH, 
Sun Building, N. T. 



8ro 

STJieise JJaps are rciSjiectfttUs 
3S):Jii]bitinfi to tftem 

of tljefv 
at tjje 

^TCtne dC tfieir first 35mifiratfon, 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



VOLUME I. 

P«ge 

19, liue 2, for 1616, read 1621. 

26, lino 17, for ovory littlo makes a niicklo, read ^' mony a little malts a muckle," &c. 
9i^, line 5, for Was in its hciglit, road, was at its height, «!fec. 
119, end of parngiapli 2, add, Su'rifcstcd by Doan Swift. 
1 19, lino 2'!, road, to clear tho mines, and more readily bring forth their seoniiugly 

inoxhatistiblo contents. 
1;13, lino 11, iiisioad of, Imd had too much, read, had drunk too much. 
loG, end of paragraph 6, add, Some also used tamarinds. Tiie Arabic word Sherbet 

moniis cuol drink. 
150, end of paragraph 2, add, reflected by wind and water. 
152, end of paragraph 3, add, The next 1510, 31st year of his rcigu. 
158, end of paragraph 1 of note, for 1834, road 1813. 
171, after lino 4, road 

" Tom Coriat footed it 10,000 miles, 

Hosides waylicks and Kentish stiles." Dixon. 
188, after lino 3, soo Vol. 2, p. 218. 
250, paragraph 1. Drake died and was buried at sea, in tho Wost Indies. It was 

Ailmiral Itiako who was buried in Westminster Abbey. 
265, end of paragraph 6, add, sec Appendix 2. 
278, ond of paragraph 2, add, see Vol. 2, page 103 
S88, end of poetry, read, by Sir Edward Dyer. 

296, endof paragrapli 4, add, She was caUed " pretty, witty Nell}'." 

297, lino 8 in poetry, roail. Or blossoni'd treasures which tho spring unfurls: 
304, lino 18, read. No wonder Cato eonunittod suicide. 

311, Appendix, read U.S. motto, •* E pluribus unum." 

312, Appendix, for Text pago 250, read, i)ago 265. 

314, bottom paragrapli, instead of Russians, mad Spaniards. 



VOLUME IL 

103, line 16, road mud cabins, instead of log cabins. 

180, paragraph 4 in notes, lino 3, read wore sent, for was sent. 

SM, end of paragraph 5, add Charles I. 

223, noto, line 4, for 1823, road 1833. 

870, line 1, from Mr. Clark, read, by a Mr Clark. 



PREFACE. 



** It is characteristic of the noblest natures and the finest imagination to 
love to explore the vestiges of antiquity." — Eustace. 

The desire of possessing some knowledge of the events that 
have preceded us, of the places of our nati\'^ity, or which con- 
tain the sepulchres of our forelathers, seems to be one of the 
most universal feelings of our nature. The author of " The 
Last Days of Pompeii " beautifully writes : " We love to feel 
within us the bond which unites the most distant eras. Men, 
nations, customs perish ; the affections are immortal ! they 
are the sympathies which unite the ceaseless generations : the 
past lives ; when we look upon its emotions, it lives in our 
own. It is the magician's gift, that revives the dead, that ani- 
mates the dust of forgotten graves. This is not the author's 
skill ; it is in the heart of the reader." 

The only people whose origin is known are the Jews, their 
history being handed down to us by Holy Writ. No country 
in Europe can prove a strict succession for many ages. 

The design of this work is to exhibit to the American rea- 
der, in a concise form, the 7n(nmerSj the custonis, and the social 
condition of the people by whom this country was, for the most 
part, colonized : for, as Dr. Johnson observes, " Books that 
you may carry to the fire and hold steadily in hand, are the 
most useful after all. A reader will often look at them and 
be tempted to go on, when he would have been frightened at 
books of a larger size and of a more erudite appearance." 

Of the twenty-seven states which now form this confederacy, 
thirteen were originally peopled from Great Britain.* As the 
English language is spoken all over it, it must be highly use- 
ful for the public to know the social condition of that people 
at the period of its first settlement. Those who did not emi- 
grate from those islands will find information which they can- 
not otherwise obtain, and thereby an insight into the habits and 
manners of the English nation, which at present may appear 
to them unaccountable. 

It appears to be the most important period of any to the 

* A table of the settlement of the States of the U. S, will be found in 
the Appendix, p. 311. 

1* 



VI PREFACE. 

people of this Union, perhaps the most extraordinary of any 
since time itself commenced.^ It may serve as a point to the 
future historian, for him to trace the ever-varying chain of events 
that will certainly arise in the social condition of those who are 
to succeed us. The talented Mrs. Barbauld says : " Often does 
a single man illustrate his country, and leave a long track of 
light after him to future ages." 

That important period is not only interesting to us as a nation, 
but also peculiarly interesting as being the first dawn of that 
bright era when "starlight science" was just unfolding to 
the human race those extraordinary and inexhaustiblo stores 
which have since been so wonderfully developed, and in the 
perfecting of which this nation seems to be, with the same 
praiseworthy desire, equally engaged with the rest of the chil- 
dren of men, for their social, mental, and moral meliorations. 
Mr. Burke has truly observed, " The stock of materia(s by 
which any country is rendered flourishing and prosperous, is its 
industry, its knowledge or skill, its morals, its execution of 
justice, its courage, and the national union in directing those 
powers to one point, and making them all centre in the public 
benefit." 

It is but lately that historians have gone sufficiently into 
details upon those subjects which throw light upon the social 
condition of the people of whom they were writing. They 
have seemed to consider that all that was necessary was to 
detail the amours and other follies of their chief rulers, with 
their battles by sea or by land, leaving the manners^ the cus- 
toms^ and the social condition of the inhabitants at large to be 
guessed at according to the fancy of their readers. But the 
scrutinizing curiosity of the present age does not, as it ought 
not, remain so easily satisfied. 

A portion of the materials of this work has been collected 
during the last forty years. 

" Pleasing, when youth is long expired, to trace 
The forms our pencil or our pen designM ; 
Such was our youthful air, and shape, and face, 

Such the soft image of our youthful mind." Shenstone, 

At the juvenile age at which the writer began to make note 
books he was not aware of the importance of recording the titles, 
the dates, or the names of the authors of many of the works 
from which he was receiving instruction and delight, which 
he trusts will be a sufficient apology should it appear he has 
inserted some articles as his own which the intelligent reader 
may detect as belonging to others. The writer would be sorry 



PREFACE. Vll 

to be considered a wilful plagiarist, having long been admo- 
nished by the following couplet not to commit such mean 
peculations : 

" Steal not word for word nor thought for thought, 
For you'll be teazed to death if you are caught." Bramstone. 

The candid critic will admit that one may be guilty of pla- 
giarism, and yet be unconscious of it. Mr. Sheridan, one of 
the greatest geniuses of the last century, has observed : " Faded 
ideas float in the mind like half forgotten dreams, and imagina- 
tion in its fullest enjoyment becomes suspicious of its offspring, 
and doubts whether it has created or adopted it." In the lan- 
guage of Dryden, (if he may be permitted to apply it,) " My 
chief delight is to amuse and adorn the age in which I live." 
Also with an apology from Strutt, " I must entreat the reader 
to excuse the frequent quotations which he will meet with, 
which, in general, I have given verbatim^ and this I have done 
for his satisfaction as well as my own, judging it much fairer 
standing upon the authority of others than to arrogate to my- 
self the least degree of penetration to which 1 have no claim." 

The writer sets up but little claim to any part of it ; it is 
merely a compilation, (" though compilers are the pioneers of 
literature.") He has availed himself to some extent of the 
" Pictorial History of England ;" and happy shall he be if this 
notice should be the means of bringing that very interesting 
work into more general use, particularly in public libraries and 
schools, as it is an excellent work of reference. The article 
on " bells "* he has extracted partly from Gardiner's " Music 
of Nature," and partly from Burney's '' History of Music." 

On the at all times exciting subjects of religion and politics 
he wishes to be considered as being no partisan ; they are intro- 
duced as features in the portrait that could not but be conspicu- 
ously noticed. With the doctrines he has not meddled. He 
has thought it an act of justice to substitute the word Catholic 
for Papist^ and the word Friend for Quaker ^ those words being 
used as nick-names of that period : by this course, however, he 
may be destined to realize the following lines by Lord Byron : 

" The consequence is, being of no party 
I shall offend all parties — never mind ; 
My words at last are more sincere and hearty 
Than if I sought to sail before the wind." 

The name Puritan^ which originated in the time of Queen 
Elizabeth, was given to a considerable number of men because 

* Vide Vol. ii. 



ym PREFACE. 

they wished to serve and worship their Maker with greater 
purity. That name, although arising from the same reproachful 
spirit, he has been obliged to continue, not having found an 
instance under which they were otherwise designated. 

The author has purposely abstained from noticing many of 
the plays, and much of the literature of the times, as being 
decidedly immoral and offensive. 

With respect to the inventions and discoveries of the period, 
they were but few, and the names of the inventors of many 
of them may be disputed ; but such as were the most promi- 
nent, and as generally admitted, are noticed. 

'• These are the gifts of art, and art thrives most 
Where commerce has enric-h'd the busy coast ; 
He catches all improvements in his flight, 
Spreads foreign wonders in his country's sight- 
Imports what others have invented well, 
And stirs his own to match them or excell : 
'Tis thus, reciprocating each with each 
Attentively, that nations learn and teach." Cowpbr. 

«The reader will find many extraordinary things narrated in 
this work, which may seem almost incredible ; yet there is not 
one but will bear the test of criticism. 

While endeavouring to impart to his work the charm of 
variety, the author has studied to give a full and faithful por- 
traiture of the times ; and whatever may be said of the produc- 
tion, which he submits, with some trepidation, to the candid 
judgment of a discerning public, he hopes it will escape the 
censure that has been passed on the statues of jEgina : " They 
show but one countenance." 

Happy shall he be if it be found a cabinet of splendid gems, 
of brilliant workmanship, ingeniously inlaid and well put to- 
gether, curiously nailed and clenched by authority ; proper for 
readers of all ages, sexes, and conditions, and a useful book of 
reference for all parties. 

New York, August, 1843. 



CONTENTS. 



Population, . . . . 13 

Provisions and Labour, . 16 

Pauperism, 20 

Revenue, 25 

The Army, 28 

Commerci'al Marine, . 36 

Royal Navy, .... 40 

Character of the Rulers, 44 

Crouching Meanness of 
the Courtiers, . 

English Constitution, 

Torture, . . . 

Law Characters, 

Architecture, . 

Castles, . 

Hospitality, . 

Home Travelling, 

Pillion Riding, . 

Coaches, 

Sedan Chairs, 

Post-chaises, . 

Turnpike Roads, 

Canals, . 

Railroads, . 

Bridges, Viaducts, Aque- 
ducts, and Tunnels, 

Inns, 

Gardening, .... 

Agriculture, .... 

Timber Planting, . 

Littlecot House, . 

Country Life, . 

The Country Labourer, 

The Cottage, .... 

Houses of the Gentry, 

Damp vs. Dry Situations, 1 17 

Coal, 117 



46 
49 
62 
63 
67 
71 
76 
80 
81 
81 
83 
84 
85 
87 
87 



92 
94 
101 
103 
104 
105 
108 
110 
112 



Page 
Eating and Entertain- 
ments, 120 

The King's Feast, . . 124 

Carving, 128 

Drinking and Recipes, 131 
Contrast of the two Lead- 
ing Parties, . . . 137 

Clubs, .141 

Whig and Tory, . 141 
Duels, ...*.. 143 
Tea, Coffee, and Choco- 
late, 147 

Tobacco and Snuff, . . 150 
Laws respecting Reli- 
gion, 152 

Persecution in the Olden 

Time, 154 

Transportation and Emi- 
gration, 156 

A Usurer of the Seven- 
teenth Century, . . 159 
Rise of three Titled Fa- 
milies, .... 165 
Darnley Family, . . 165 
Landsdown ** ... 166 
Foley "' . . 167 

Foreign Travel, . . 168 

Female Education, , . 173 
Male Education, . . .181 
Ladies' Dress, . . . 186 
Gentlemen's Dresses, . 195 
Hair, Wigs, and Beards. 203 
Furniture, . . .' 209 

Mas ter of the Ceremon ies ,216 

Retinue, 218 

Merchants, Shopkeepers, 
and 'Prentices, . . 223 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Clergymen, Clerks, and 

the Sextoness, . . 228 

Religious Lectures, . . 233 
Book of Sports, ... 234 

Churches, 235 

Church Desecration, . . 237 
Funerals, Tombs, &c., . 247 

Brasses, 251 

Buried Money, . . . 252 

Epitaphs, 252 

Decorating Graves with 

Flowers, .... 257 
Crosses, 258 



Page 
The Fine Arts, . . . 259 
Painting and Sculpture, . 2Q2 

Tapestry, 264 

Sculpture, 266 

Coins, 267 

Wood Carving, . . .270 
Decorative House Paint- 
ers, 275 

Music, 277 

CEolian Harp, . . . 289 

Theatres, 292 

Court Amusements, . 304 
Appendix, /311 



The Frontispiece represents an outline map ^f England and Wales ; 
there sits untaxed Joluiny Bull, upon "^gir, the Sea Demon," with his 
favorite tankard of ale, and his son of Wales clinging to his back, por- 
traying a jocose symbol of "raerrye Englande." He seems to be saying 
to his laughing boy — 

'Thou raak'st me merry, I am fond of pleasure, 

Let us be jocuad — will you troule the catch T' — SJiakapeare. 

The youth sings the sixth verse of a very old song : 

"Every island is a prison, 

Strongly guarded liy the sea ; " 
Kings and Princes, for that reason, 
Prisoners are as well as we ! " — Ritson's Songs. 

The compass is formed by a spit passed through a bullock's heart, with 
a knife and fork pointing far east and far west ; emblematic of his hearty 
delight in regaling himself on roast beef, which, in the language of Swift, 
one of his most jocose and favorite writers, " is the king of meat; beef 
comprehends in it the quintessence of partridge, and quail, and venison, 
and pheasant, and plum-pnddiiig, and custard." 

Such being easy John's jocund humor in those days of full feasting, 
we need not wonder at his capricios. 

"The tumbler's jrambols some delight afford, 
No less the nimble caperer on the cord. 
But these are still insipid stuff, to see 
Coup'd " on ajisk, " toss'd upon the sea." — Drydcn, 

^'Therefore he would have his way; and our friend is to drink till he 
be carbuncled and tun-bellied ; after which, we will send him down to 
smoke, and to be buried with his ancestors in Derbyshire."— TafZer. 



THE 



SOCIAL HISTORY 



OP 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



POPULATION. 

" Increase and multiply." 

On this subject it is impossible to come to an accurate con- 
clusion, there being no actual account taken until the beginning 
of the present (nineteenth) century. App. iii. 

In the " Gentleman's Magazine " for 1753, on a debate in 
the house of commons on a " bill for numbering the people," 
which did not pass even that house, it was stated that " it could 
not be carried into effect ; for, in taking the country all over, it 
would be found that out of every six of the church wardens, 
and there were two church wardens in every parish, one-third 
of them were illiterate." 

What a picture does this circumstance exhibit of their igno- 
rant state only about one hundred years past ! It also shows 
how small the amount of the poor rates were ; otherwise 
regular accounts of the receipts and expenditure would have 
been found needful. It has been found that the increase of 
the poor rates has progressed regularly with the increase of 
the taxes. 

Poor Rates. Government Taxes, 

James II., ^£160,000 1,300,000 . 

1776, 1,496,906 8,000,000 

1789, 2,250,000 16,000,000 

1839, 6,700,000 52,000,000 

The writer of this work has been much in each of the three 
kingdoms, and for many years has had his eye upon various 
objects which now remain, and which strongly proclaim them 
to have been the remains of a formerly great rnral population. 
He is also aware of many great and populous towns and 

2 



14 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

cities having, within the last 150 years, risen up from very 
insignificant places. But in general it has only been a change 
from the mass of the rural districts to the coal districts. A few 
changes have arisen, but from a different cause than from this 
important one of /t«e/, viz. : London from the taxing system; 
Brighton, Leamington, Cheltenham, ,&;c., from becoming fash- 
ionable watering-places. 

The large manufacturing towns are all situated in the coal 
basins, and have been concentrated there by the all-powerful, 
grasping, grabbing agency of steam. 

Let any one take an agricultural survey of the counties of 
Norfolk, Suffolk,* Surry, Sussex, Hants, Wilts, Dorset, Oxford, 
Northampton, and great part of Wales, and they will perceive, 
in the great size of the churches, old mill seats, and traces of the 
plough, evident marks of a former great village population. They 
will also find numerous decayed cities and towns nearly dwindled 
away. Winchester was the §e.£it of government many years 
before London : many king^ have been crowned, and buried 
there. Lincoln once had fifty churches, as well as its noble 
cathedral. Several places once sent members to parliament, 
which are now almost entirely depopulated. Some places 
now small, were once the seat of a bishopric. 

As, however, we are without any actual account, this impor- 
tant subject will ever remain a matter of conjecture. 

The Edwards and the Henrys could take into France 
armies of about 40,000 men ; and at the battle of Waterloo 
" gentleman " George IV. could send no more ! 

The population of Great Britain at the period of James I. 
coming to the crown, was generally estimated at only nine 
millions. If my own opinion is of any weight, I hesitate not in 
saying it was full fifteen. But the actual number is not of much 
consequence, but how they were employed. Of that, the most 
important consideration to the statesman, we shall never know: 
indeed, until 1833, none of their returns were worth a straw ; 
but in that year came forth " Marshall's Digest," and the 
following extract is the " analysis of occupations :" 

* Mr. Cobbett, in speaking of this " county," (Suffolk,) says : " There 
is a parish church in every three square miles or less ; and it is thus divided 
into parishes so numerous, as for the people everywhere to be almost imme- 
diately and constantly under the eye of a resident parochial minister." He 
also says it " is the crack county of England : it is the best cultivated, most 
ably, most carefully, most skilfully, of any piece of land of the same size in 
the whole world. Its labourers are the most active and most clever ; its 
farmers' wives, and women employed in agriculture, the most frugal, adroit, 
and cleanly of any in the whole world : it is a country of most frank, indus- 
trious, and virtuous people ; its towns are all cleanliness, neatness, and 
good order." 



POPULATION. 



15 



1. Agricultural occupiers, 

2. do labourers, 

3. Mining do 

4. Millers, butchers, and 

bakers, 

5. Artificers, builders, &c., 

6. Manufacturers, 

7. Tailors, shoemakers, and ) 

hatters, ) 

8. Shop-keepers, 

9. Seamen and soldiers, 

10. Clerical, legal, and me- ) 

dical men, 3 

11. Disabled paupers, 

12. Proprietors and annuitants 



Number of 
1821. 

230,000 

728,956 
110,000 

160,000 

200,000 
340,000 

150,000 

310,000 
319,000 

80,000 

100,000 
192,428 



Families. 
1831. 

250,000 

800,000 
120,000 

180,000 

230,000 
400,000 

180,000 

350,000 
277,017 

90,000 

110,000 
316,487 



Total of Persons. 
1831. 

1,500,000 

4,800,000 
600,000 

900,000 

650,000 
2,400,000 

1,080,000 

2,100,000 
831,000 

450,000 

650,000 
1,116,398 



2,920,38413,303,504 16,977,398 

Of the above analysis we may say, in the language of its own 
motto, " Every line a lesson, every page a history." 

About forty years past began some uneasiness about an 
increasing population. Why there should have been any 
more cause for alarm then than in former periods, the writer 
is at a loss to conjecture ; seeing that the children were born 
with legs and arms, and capacities to labour, as usual. 

In the year 1834 a calculation was made from the returns, 
and it appears that, out of 15,535 parishes in England and 
Wales, including under that name townships which maintained 
their own poor, there were 737 in which the population did not 
exceed fifty persons ; there were 1907 in which the number did 
not exceed 100 persons ; and 6681 in which the number did 
not exceed 300 persons. Yet in some of these villages the 
church-porch alone would hold all those who were able to go 
to worship at any one time. 

At the period those fine old churches were built there must 
have evidently been many more inhabitants. 

Many intelligent men have investigated this subject, and, as 
far as the writer has read their investigations, he sees no ground 
of alarm ; and, therefore, he cannot help but reiterate the advice 
of Sir Richard Phillips, who says, " In short, 1 always advise 
those who think mankind too numerous, to hang themselves. 
out of the way for the public good, and make room for others 
more worthy of life and enjoyment !" — who 

" Exult in joys to grosser minds unknown, 
A wealth exhaustless, and a world their own." 



16 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



PROVISIONS AND LABOUR. 

" Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all : the king himself is served by 
the field.— Eccles. 5 : S." 

From the account of the purveyors of Prince Henry's 
household about 1610, it appears that the price of beef was 
then about S^d. per lb., mutton about 3|^. The prices of 
many articles were fixed by a proclamation in 1633, (there 
having been a scarcity ;) a fat cygnet is to be sold at from 7s. to 
95". ; a cock pheasant 6s. ; a hen 5s. ; a male turkey, best sort, 
4s. ; hen, 3s. ; a duck, 8c?. ; a goose, 2s. ; a capon, fat and 
crammed, 2s. 6c?. ; a pullet. Is. 6d. ; a hen. Is. ; a rabbit, 7d. ; 
twelve tame pigeons, 6s. ; three eggs. Id. ; a pound of best 
salt butter, 4^d. ; fresh, from 5d. to 6c?. ; tallow candles, 3lc?. j 
with cotton wick, 4c?. ; a sack (or four bushels) of charcoals, ^c?. ; 
a sack of the best and largest coals, 6d. ; 1000 Kentish billets, 
16s. Among other miscellaneous articles, we find two cauli- 
flowers, 3s. ; sixteen artichokes, 3s. 4c?. ; a few potatoes for 
James''s queen^ 2s. per pound. At this time, and for a con- 
siderable time later, the usual bread corn was barley for the 
poor people. According to the household book of Sir Edward 
Coke, who was attorney-general at the end of Queen Eliza- 
beth's reign, the servants of great families commonly ate rye 
bread, and large quantities of oat meal. Above twenty-one 
stone (or 1681bs.) of beef, besides other meats_, was consumed 
in his family while he lived in London ; and' yet at that time 
considerable more than a third of the whole year consisted of 
fish days, which were strictly observed. 

Phillip Stubbes, in his Anatomy of Abuses, published 159.5, 
says : '' The meanest shirt cost 2s. 6d.y and some as much as 
£10. The price of wool was high ; but James issued a procla- 
mation in 1622 prohibiting its importation, which brought it 
down from 33s. to 18s. the tod of 2Slbs.,or from Is. 2c?. to about 
8c?. per pound. Some years afterward the price again rose, being 
24s. in 1641, 37s. 6c^. in 1648, 40s. in 1649, and, between 1650 
and 1660, ranging from 22s. 6c?. to 60s."* 

Judge Hale, who was a Gloucestershire man, in his ^' Dis- 
course touching Provisions for the Poor," written in 1659, 
says : " The common coarse medley cloth of that county, thirty- 
two yards long, costs, for 901bs. of wool, at Is. per pound; for 
cards and oil, £1 ; and for the wages of three weavers and 
spoolers, two breakers, six spinners, one fuller and burler, one 
sheerman, and one paster and picker, fourteen persons in all, 
j£6 5s." He calculates that sixteen pieces might be made in a 
* See Smith's " Memoirs of Wool." 



Provisions and labour. 17 

year by this number of workmen ; consequently the wages 
earned would amount to d697. But this is not quite 7s. for 
each per week. He also gives an account of what was, or might 
have been, earned by their wives and families, or from poor 
rates ; for, from the statements of other writers, these sort of 
people earned 10s. per week — that is, people in handicraft 
trades. App. iv. 

From the ArchcBologia. — " The rates as fixed by the justices 
of the peace in 1610 for the county of Rutland, (a purely agri- 
cultural county to this day,) and which continued down to 
nearly the breaking out of the civil war : The yearly wages of 
a bailiff of husbandry, 52s. ; of a man servant, for husbandry, 
who can plough, sow, mow, thresh, make a rick, thack, and 
hedge the same, and kill a hog, sheep, and calf, 50s. ; of a 
middling servant, 29s. ; of a boy under sixteen years, 20s. ; 
of a chief woman servant, 26s. 8c^., being a good cook, and 
can bake, brew, and make malt, and able to oversee other ser- 
vants ; of a second woman servant of the best sort, who can- 
not dress meat, nor make malt nor bread, 23s. 4d. ; of a 
woman servant who can do but out work and drudgery, 
16s. ; of a girl under sixteen years, 14s. ; of a chief miller, 
46s.; of a common miller, 31s. Sd. j of a chief shepherd, 
30s. ; of a common shepherd, 25s. For harvest work a 
mower is ordered to have, by the day, 5d. with his meat ; a 
man reaper, haymaker, hedger, or ditcher, 4d. ; a woman 
reaper, Sd. ; a woman haymaker, 2d. If no meat was given, 
these sums were doubled in each case, except that the woman 
haymaker was to have 5d. instead of 4rf." There is no doubt 
but that it was a rare instance of any^ farmer ever hesitating 
about feeding, because his purse would not be overloaded with 
cash, while his house would have good store of food. Every 
other kind of labour, at all other times than in harvest, was to 
have, from '' Easter till Michaelmas, Sd. a day with food, ©r 
7d. without ; and from Michaelmas to Easter 2d. with food, 
and 6d. without." 

" The day's wages of various artificers were appointed to be^ 
before Michaelmas, when they were highest, and were, for a 
carpenter, 8rf. with meat, or Is. 2d. without; for a free ma- 
son who can draw his plot, work and set accordingly, having 
charge above others, 8d. with meat, or Is. without ; for a chief 
joiner, or a master sawyer, 6f?. with meat, or Is. without ; for 
a horse-collar maker, Qd. with meat, or Is. without ; for a 
ploughright, a rough mason, or expert carpenter, or a tiler, 
or slater, 5d. with meat, or 9^. without meat ; for a thatcher, 
hurdle-maker, (slight wood fences for dividing of turnip-fields,) 
or bricklayer, 5d!. with, or 9d. without meat. After Michael- 

2* 



18 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

mas the sums set down are from two-thirds or four-fifths of these 
sums, the greatest proportional deductions being generally 
made from the highest wages. Throughout the year farmers 
and gardeners were allowed 6d. with, and Is. without meat, and 
tailors 4c?. with, and 8c?. without meat." " In these rates of 
wages," observes Sir Frederick Eden, " the justices seem to 
have calculated that half the day's earnings were equivalent 
to diet one day ; in modern times, however, a much greater 
proportion was appropriated to the purchase of the single article 
of bread." It must be observed that at this period there was 
neither tea nor coffee, so that the drink would be either milk, 
or broths, or beer, or cider, of which every able-bodied man 
would have at least two quarts per day, and in harvest-time 
more ; for, as there was no excise, these would be cheap. 

In a scarce tract, called " Britaiii's Busse,^^ published 1615, 
in recommendation of a project to rival the Dutch herring 
fishery, the follow^ing is the expense of feeding the seamen 
of that time : " He proposes that every man should have a 
gallon of beer a day, which he says is the allowance made in 
the king's ships, the cost of which he makes at a trifle more 
than 2c?. a gallon ; then each hand to have a pound of biscuit 
per day, costing between five and six farthings ; half a pint of 
oatmeal between his meals, costing a farthing and a half ; two 
pounds of bacon a week, costing B^d., besides as much fresh fish 
as they could catch for themselves ; a quarter of a pound of 
butter a day, costing about a penny ; half a pound of cheese, 
costing five farthings ; together with three pints of vinegar, 
costing about two pence, and seven Kentish fagots, costing 
about 6c?. a day for every sixteen." The exact estimated daily 
cost of victualling is seven pence three farthings and one twenty- 
eighth of a farthing. This is rather higher than the allowance 
made in the Rutland table for the highest class of mechanics, 
even than the master carpenter, being only allowed 6d. a day 
for diet ; but the difference was found necessary to make up for 
the difficulties and dangers of a sailor's life, and also to create 
a rivalry in a branch of business in which the Dutch were 
reaping individually great profit, and sustaining a great com- 
mercial marine. The wages proposed to be paid to the crew 
were also high, as compared with the earnings of either agricul- 
tural or mechanical employment ; for the masters were to have 
about 3s. 7c?. a day ; the mates about lO^^c?. ; one-half of the 
men about 8|c?. each, the other about 7c?., and the boys about 
2Jc?. It appears, by an ordnance printed in " Rymer's Foedera," 
that in 1636 seamen in the royal navy were allowed, in har- 
bour, 7Jc?. a day for their provisions, and, when at sea, SJc?. 

In a tract entitled " Stanley's Remedys, or the way to Reform 



PROVISIONS AND LABOUR. 19 

Wandering Beggars, Thieves, Highway Robbers, and Pick- 
pockets," written in the reign of King James, 1646, the cos* 
of the diet and maintenance of every one of the idle, thievish, 
and drunken persons that infested the kingdom, living only upon 
beggary and plunder, is estimated at three pence a day at the 
least. 

We learn from those diarists so often quoted, that, when ser- 
vants in London were out of places, they oftentimes repaired to 
St. Paul's churchyard, then the great public place of lounge, 
and stood against the pillars of the old cathedral, then remain- 
ing, holding before them a written placard, stating their par- 
ticular qualifications and their desire of employment. 

The rent of the cottages was almost universally iB2 per year 

Sir Kenelm Digby says, in his time nearly every cottager 
kept a cow. At the present time it is just the contrary. 

In Lord Bacon's time it was the general custom for the 
farmers to sell wheat to the labourers at rather under market 
prices. 

There was a steadiness in prices before paper money. For- 
merly, as many shillings as the bushel of wheat brought, so 
many pence was the price of the quartern loaf of 4lbs. 8oz. ol 
best white bread, in towns. In like manner, as many shillings 
as a bushel of beans sold for, so many pence would buy a pound 
of pork. A pp. V. 

A pound of good wheat makes a pound of good bread ; for, 
although the offal is taken out, yet salt, water, and yeast are 
added thereto. In former times it was considered that, on an 
average of individuals, each consumed a sack of flour of 20 
stone of 14lbs. each. Thirteen pounds of good wheat make 
121 bs. of good flour. 

Before the excise was laid on making malt, it was common 
for the malsters to swop a bushel of ready made malt for a 
bushel of raw barley ; the extra bulk in the process of malting 
was considered a sufficient profit for the labour and malt-house 
rent. 

If the clothes of former times cost more, they were far more 
durable than at the present day. 

King James I. settled upon his son Charles, created Duke 
of York, then five years old, iS40 per annum ; on the duke's 
nurse, £dO ; his seamstress, £20 ; the same on his chamber- 
keeper ; and on his laundress and cook, £36 each, yearly. 
George Sheires, apothecary for the king's house, £40 per year : 
Robert Barker, the king's printer, £6 13s. 4:d. ; Alexander and 
llobert Arskin, the king's tailors, to each 2s. per day. 



20 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

PAUPERISM. 

"For the poor shall never cease out of the land." — Bible. 

On this very important subject the author must claim per* 
mission to travel a little beyond the period he has prescribed 
It is to be observed that, when the feudal system was in its 
full vigour, the lords of the soil were obliged to attend to their 
vassals, whether productive or indigent, let it arise from what 
cause it might, similar to what the planters now do in the 
southern parts of this Union. As that system began to be 
relaxed, the poor, as is always the case, began to feel its 
effects first. 

The church then began to enter fully into the matter, upon 
the most benevolent and Christian principles ; and herein we 
may see at the present day one of the good ejfFects of the celi- 
bacy of the clergy. Portions of the tithes and other church 
property were set aside expressly for this purpose ; and they 
were rigidly enforced by the canon, ecclesiastical, and civil 
laws. Thus things went on for several centuries, England 
never knowing all that time the hateful name of pauper. But 
when Henry the wife-killer, no matter for what cause, or 
why, or when, destroyed this system, a scene of horror and 
misery ensued for several years, that beggars all description. 
To cut the matter short, (for it is too sickening to dwell on,) 
Elizabeth was compelled, in the forty-third year of her reign, 
1601, to cause her celebrated act to be passed — of a compul- 
sory assessment for the poor. 

Various changes and alterations have at times been*made in 
the system. There was soon a vagrant act coupled with 
it, and workhouses, and houses of correction, and enlarged 
jails. So this frightful subject has gone on from that period 
till now, generally increasing in horror and misery, which can 
be traced as clear as any one can trace his own shadow in the 
sunshine, to the increase of enclosures, taxation, debts, paper 
money, &c. ; for, as Mr. Cobbett observes, " taxation pro- 
duces misery, and misery produces crime." 

As, however, I only have prescribed to myself the part of 
the historian, I shall proceed now to state its progress during 
the time prescribed. Some statutes were passed during the 
reigns of James and Charles, relating to binding of poor chil- 
dren apprentices ; these acts, which were well intended, and 
which showed great marks of wisdom and benevolence, were 
often imperfectly executed. In many places no rates were 
levied for more than twenty, thirty, or forty years after the 



PAUPERISM. 31 

passing of the Elizabethan act, so that many persons were left 
to perish for want. But in those places were the justices did 
their duty, Lord Coke says, upon the authority of Sir F. Eden, 
there was not a rogue to be seen ; but where justices and 
other officers were remiss, rogues swarmed again. How much 
better would it have been for these two pig-headed kings, in- 
stead of employing their time in enforcing their undefined pre- 
rogatives^ to have seen that these most important laws were 
fully, faithfully, and benevolently executed. 

" When tyranny and usurpation 
O'er run the freedom of a nation. 
The laws o'the land — that were intended 
To keep it out — are made defend it." — Butler. 

The following historical extracts will, in the language of 
the times, better illustrate this grievous subject than any de- 
scription of my own. The author of a pamphlet — reader, 
mark the frightful title and mark the date, and then bear in 
mind that the king and hundreds of his subjects were all pro- 
fessed Christians ; nay, they were busy discussing this hea- 
venly subject in all sorts of ways except the right, viz., how 
each should best show his charity and benevolence to his 
neighbour and his God ; with this slight digression, let us 
feelingly listen to " Grievous Groans for the Poor^ by 
M. S., 1622" — says: " Though the number of the poor do 
daily increase, there hath been no collection for them, no, not 
these seven years, in many parishes of this land, especially in 
country towns ; but many of those places do turn forth their 
poor, yea, and their lusty labourers, that will not work, or for 
any misdemeanour want work, to beg, filch, and steal for their 
maintenance ; so that the country is pitifully pestered with 
them : yea, and the maimed soldiers, that have ventured their 
lives and lost their limbs in our behalf, are also thus requited ; 
for when they return home to live by some labour in their 
natural country, though they can work well in some kind ot 
labour, every man saith, we will not be troubled with their 
service, but make other shift for our business ; so are they 
turned forth to travel in idleness, (the highway to hell,) and 
seek their meal upon meres, (as the proverb goeth,) with 
begging, filching, and stealing for their maintenance, until the 
law bring them unto the fearful end of hanging." 

The following extract is from orders issued for the regulation 
of some branches of the police by the privy council, date 1630 :* 

Common offences and abuses for stewards of lords and gen- 

* Reprinted by Eden, State of the Poor. 



^»»-fci4i 



22 THE SOCIAL mSTOHY Ot" CHaLHrx xe^xi 

tlemen to inquire into at their court leetSj which are he i. 
twice a year. — " Of bakers and brewers for breaking of as- 
sizes ; of forestallers and regraters ; against tradesmen of all 
sorts for selling with under-weights, or at excessive prices, 
or things unwholesome, or things made in deceit ; of house- 
breakers, common thieves, or their receivers ; haunters ^f 
taverns or ale-houses ; those that go in good clothes and fare 
well, and none know whereof they live ; those that be night 
walkers ; takers-in of loose inmates ; offences of victuallers, 
artificers, workmen, and labourers." A farther regulation di- 
rects " that the correction houses in all counties may be 
made adjoining to the common prisons^ and the jailer to be 
made governor of them, so that he may employ to work pri- 
soners committed for small causes, and so they may learn ho- 
nesty by labour, and live not idly and miserably long in prison, 
whereby they are made worse when they come out than they 
were when they went in ; and, where many houses of correc- 
tion are in one county, one of them to be at least near the jail." 
Another order, " which more than darkly hints a melancholy 
tale," prohibits all persons from harbouring rogues in their 
barns or out-housings ; and authorizes constables to demand 
from wandering persons going about with women and children, 
where they were married, and where their children were chris- 
tened ; "for these people live like savages, neither marry, lior 
bury, nor christen, which licentious liberty makes so many de- 
light to be rogues and wanderers." > 

A great increase of beggars had been occasioned by the dis- 
banding of the army from poor, ill-fated Ireland the preceding 
year ; the consequence was, these soldiers, and many others 
along with them, flocked over the country in swarms, to Eng- 
land ; to remedy which evil, a proclamation* was issued, com- 
manding them to return to Ireland, and ordering them to be 
conveyed from constable to constable, to either Bristol, Mine- 
head, Chester, Liverpool, Milford, or Workington. If they 
should be found begging in England afterward, they were to 
be punished as rogues and vagabonds. 

" Perish that man who hears the piteous tale 
Unmoved ; to whom the heartfelt glow's unknown ; 
On whom the sufferers' plaints could ne'er prevail, 
Nor make the injured wretches' cause his own !" 

In 1662, under pretence of providing for the better relief of 
the poor, an act was passed which reduced the labouring po- 
pulation to be the actual fixtures of the soil of each particular 
place in which chance had then thrown them. This was the 

* Rymer Foedera. 



PAUPERISM. 23 

act of 13 and 14 Charles II., c. 12, commonly called the Act 
of Settlement. The preamble of the act testifies the fact of 
pauperism continuing to make head against all attempts at re- 
straining it. For remedy of these evils, it was now " enacted 
that it should be lawful for any two justices of the peace, upon 
complaint made by the church wardens or overseer of the 
poor, within forty days after the arrival of a new comer in the 
parish, to remove him by force to the parish where he was 
last legally settled, unless he could give security against be- 
coming burdensome where he was living, to the satisfaction of 
the two justices." This was no remedy. This did not go to 
the heart of the subject, viz., what was the cause of the in- 
crease I no one of the lawmakers or schemers (and there were 
hundreds of them) ever had head or heart enough to face that. 
The real cause was two very important subjects, and both 
pulling one way, in favour of the rich and against the poor, 
viz., the increase in the taxation, and the increase in bills of 
enclosure to enclose the waste lands and commons, from which 
the poor derived much benefit. The real thought always up- 
permost was, 

" He that is rich, why, let him richer grow : 
If poor, what harm if we increase his wo !" 

All the good of this act of settlement was, to make large 
harvests for the lawyers, in debating about these respective 
parishes where the poor man had been previously settled. 
But this was not all ; for, while it circumscribed the liberty ot 
the English poor man, the native poor, it left the stranger 
from Scotland and Ireland unmolested- They might come and 
settle down, or move about, and there was no power to molest 
them, it being well known he coukl not claim relief if he 
wanted any. But, then, every one of their children could, in 
any parish wherever it was born — exhibiujig a curious exam- 
ple of '* liberty with impunity plucking justice by tke nose." 

An extract from a work " Concerning the Relief and Em- 
ployment of the Poor," from Sir Josiah Childs' " New Dis- 
courses of Trade," published 1668, a few years after this act 
of settlement, will exhibit the effect of this portion of Eng- 
land's laws, which, in the mass, are said to be " the gathered 
wisdom of a thousand years." His description of the poor is 
wretched in the extreme. In illustration of the combined 
cruelty and inefiicacy of " the shifting off, sending, or whipping 
back the poor wanderers to the place of their birth or last 
place of abode," which was then going on in all parts of the 
kingdom, is as follows : " A poor, idle person, that will not 
work, or that nobody will employ in the country, comes up to 



24 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OP GREAT BRITAIN 

London to set up the trade of begging ; such a person proba- 
bly begs up and down the streets seven years — it may be seven- 
and-tvventy — before anybody asketh why she doth so ; and, if 
at length she hath the ill hap in some parish to meet with a 
more vigilant beadle than one in twenty of them are, all he 
does is, to lead her the length of five or six houses, into another 
parish, and then concludes he hath done the part of a most 
diligent ofScer. But suppose he should go farther, to the end 
of his line — which is the line of the law, and the perfect exe- 
cution of his office — which is, to take the poor creature before a 
magistrate, and he would order the delinquent to be whipped and 
sent from parish to parish, to the place of her or his last abode, 
(which not one justice of twenty would do through pity or 
other cause ;) even this is a great charge upon the nation, and 
yet the business of the country itself left wholly undone ; for 
no sooner doth the delinquent arrive at the assigned parish, 
but, for fear of shame or idleness, or want of some one's com- 
miseration there in employing her, she presently deserts it, and 
wanders back upon aiwther route, hoping for better fortune ; 
while the parish to which she is sent, knowing her a lazy per- 
son, and perhaps a worse qualified one, is as willing to be rid 
of her as she is to be gone from that place." 

The first information I can find regarding the amount of the 
poor rates, is a statement in a pamphlet published 1673, entitled 
" The Grand Concern of England explained in several proposals 
offered to the consideration of parliament," &c. This author 
estimates the sum 'then expended on the relief of the poor at 
nearly £840,000 per year. Another writer estimates the poor 
rate at upward of iS700,000.* But Davenant, in his Essay upon 
"Ways and Means," published 1695, " collected with great 
labour and expense, by Mr. Arthur Moore, a very knowing 
person," presents an estimate from each county toward the 
end of Charles II. 's ivign, and makes the whole for England 
and Wales to be £065,362. 

From an entry in the parish-book of St. Olave's, London, 
there was paid ^4 35. for relief of poor Irish and English chil- 
dren to be transported to America, 1642. 

About twenty years past I read the following curious para- 
graph in a London newspaper : " A man was brought before a 
magistrate for neglecting his wife. He married a woman of 
St. Ann's parish, Soho ; the wedding portion was £3 : it was 
the third time he had served the parish in this manner. It ap- 
pears to have become a custom for the London parishes, when 
they got an old woman likely to live some years, to marry 

* England's *< Improvement by Sea and Land," &c., 1677. 



REVENUE. 23 



hfir off, and give a premium ; she then no longer belongs to that 
parish, but to the parish of the husband." 



REVENUE. 

At the accession of King James, 1603, (after Queen Eliza- 
beth,) the most ancient revenue of the crown, that arising from 
its landed estates, amounted only to iB32,000 per year. The 
feudal prerogative of purveyance, wardship, &c., also still con- 
tinued to be regularly exercised, and their ordinary produce may 
be estimated from the offer of the parliament in 1609, to com- 
pound for the whole by a yearly allowance of ^£200,000. In 
1601) James raised £21,800 by a tax of 20s. on every knight's 
fee, and on every 20s. of annual rent from lands immediately 
held of the crown on the occasion of his eldest son. Prince 
Henry, being made a knight ; and in 1612 he obtained, in like 
manner, iB20,500 on the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth to 
the Elector Palatine. At the commencement of his reign the 
customs of tunnage and poundage were as usual granted for the 
king's life ; and, not satisfied with this act of bounty and confi- 
dence, James, a few years afterward, proceeded to raise the 
rates of these duties by his own authority — an exertion of pre- 
rogative which, although not altogether unprecedented, (for both 
MaYj and Elizabeth had done the same thing,) occasioned much 
alarm at the time, and may be regarded as the cause which ulti- 
mately drove on the parties, on the accession of James's son, 
Charles L, from a w^ar of words to a war of swords. 

When James came to the throne the customs yielded a 
revenue of £127,000 per year. In 1613 they produced about 
£148,000; and at the close, (1625,) £190,000. All the parlia- 
mentary supplies granted during this reign were nine subsidies 
and ten-fifteenths — a subsidy yielding about £70,000, and a fif- 
teenth about £36,500 ; so that from this source James scarcely 
derived, on the whole, £1,100,000, or not quite £50,000 per 
year. Eleven subsidies from the clergy at the rate of 4s., and 
one at the rate of 6s. in the pound, produced him in all about 
£250,000 more. Other schemes to which he had recom'se for 
raising a revenue, may be classed under the head of irregular^ 
if not illegal, expedients. Titles of nobility were sold for 
specific sums : that of a baron, £10,000 ; that of a viscount 
for £20,000 ; that of an earl for £30,000. About £225,000 
in all was obtained by the sale of the new dignity of baronet, 
instituted 16 11 , at the suggestion of Sir Thomas Shirley. This 

3 



26 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OP GREAT BRITAIN. 

is the lowest hereditary title, and it does not constitute a par- 
liamentary peer. James also made a great deal of money by 
the sale of patents for monopolies, till the abuse, after having 
repeatedly excited the indignation of parliament and the public 
at large, produced the decisive proceedings in parliament, and 
the statute of 1623) v^hich declares that all monopolies are con- 
trary to law, and henceforth to be utterly void and of none 
effect — reserving to the kings a prerogative of only granting a 
fourteen years' privilege or monopoly for any new inven- 
tion. Considerable sums were exacted from the subject, at 
different times in the course of this reign, under the old false 
names of loans and benevolences ; the so called lending and 
voluntary contribution being both alike really compulsor}^ 
The heavy fines which it was the custom for the star chamber 
(a real iniquitous inquisition) and other courts to impose upon 
delinquents, also yielded something. And James, Scotchman- 
like, knew '' every little makes a mickle," screwed this peg as 
hard as he could, though without yielding much money, if 
it be true, as is asserted, that fines, nominally amounting to 
iB 184,000, were actually compounded for about £16,000 or 
i£l 8,000. To this sum may be added about iB4000, realized 
from fines for the violation of the several proclamations against 
additional building in and about London. James finally re- 
ceived back from France dB60,000 of the debt which Henry 
IV. had incurred to Queen Elizabeth ; and he got from the Dutch 
£250,000 on surrendering to them the cautionary towns of 
Flushing, Brille, and Ramikins ; besides a tribute for the pri- 
vilege of fishing on the British coast. On the whole, accord- 
ing to a published official report going over the first fourteen 
years of the reign of James, his ordinary income for that period 
averaged about £450,000 per year ; besides which, he had re- 
ceived in the course of the fourteen years about £2,000,000 
(in this £90,000 per annum secret service) in extraordinary 
or occasional payments, making the entire annual revenue of 
the crown somewhat under £600,000. 

The expenditure at first exceeded this sum by about £80,000 ; 
afterward by between £30,000 and £40,000 a year ; so that, by 
the year 1610, James had incurred a debt of £300,000.* 

The following short abstract will show the fiscal system of 
England : 

1603. On the accession of King James I., - - £600,000 
1625. do do do Charles I., - - 896,819 

During the whole of this king's reign, whose head they cut 
off, it did not average one million. 

* An abstract or brief declaration of the present state of his majesty's 
revenue, 1651, and printed in second volume of Somers' Tracts 



REVENUE. 27 

164^. The commonwealth, - - - - - - iBl 517 247 

1660. Charles II., I'SOO^OOO 

1685. James II., - - - - 2,000,000 

1688. William and Mary, - - - - - - -2 001 000 

1701. Queen Anne, -- 3,895'205 

1704. George I., (House of Brunswick,) - -5,691,803 

1727. George 11. , 6,762,643 

1760. George III., 8,523,540 

1820. George I. v., ------- -46,132,634 

1830. William IV., 47^130^873 

The expense of collecting during this last reign amounted to 
between four and five milhons annually. 

In earlier reigns there were no regular taxes ; the kings 
managed to rub along with the rents from crown lands, aids of 
the barons, benevolences from the church, and squeezings from 
the Jews. 

Before the reign of William III. the house of commons was 
somewhat an effectual check on the expenses of the govern- 
ment ; in the fourth year of his reign began the borrowing of 
money, to be paid out of future taxes. Up to the reign of 
George the III. the taxes did not much exceed eight millions ; 
but before the close of that warlike reign they amounted to 
eighty millions ; and in one year the expenditure by taxes and 
loans reached one hundred and twenty millions. App. vi. 

It will, therefore, appear that our ancestors were not driven 
out, as they are at the present day, by excessive taxation. The 
sole cause of their honourable exile was either civil or religious 
motives, or perhaps both. Taxation is now unbearable, and 
the people leave. 

*' Unto this shore they press, a countless throng, 
And leave their burthens for the rest to bear ; 
Through countless dangers they will rove along, 
But hope still lights them, while despair is there !" 

In 1660 began the present custom-house system. 

In 1668 began the board of trade recommended by Lord 
Shaftesbury : it did not continue lonaj, but was revived asain 
in 1696. ^ 

CromwelPs income is stated to have been one and a half 
million per year. An extraordinary expenditure was necessary 
as long as the civil war lasted ; but neither the cost of the war 
nor the waste of it is supposed to have swallowed up the larger 
portion of the large sums that came into the hands of the 
government. If we may believe the representations of the 
royalists and of the Presbyterians, the parliament itself was 
the great gulf into which the ever-flowing stream of confiscation 
and plunder chiefly poured itself. There may be some tendency 



2^ THE SOCIAL HISTORY OP GREAT BRITAIN. 

to over-statement in these allegations of partisans bitterly 
hostile to those whom they accuse, and themselves excluded, 
by circumstances, from all share in the good fortune ; but 
what they say is true to a very considerable extent. 

When the parliament became the dominant, or rather sole 
authority in the state, the members voted wages to themselves at 
the rate of JS4 per week for each ; and it is affirmed they after- 
ward distributed among themselves about i6300,000 per year. 

Large sums of money, lucrative offices, and valuable estates 
were also bestowed upon many of the leading members. Ac- 
cording to Walker, the Presbyterian historian, " Lenthall, the 
speaker, held offices which yielded him between 7 and dSSOOO 
per year. Bradshaw had the royal palace of Eltham, and an 
estate worth iSlOOO per year, for the part he took in the king's 
trial : and a sum of very near iB800,000 was publicly expended 
in other free gifts to the saints." 

Cromwell had such a powerful party in parliament, that there 
was not any regular appropriatians in the votes of supply ; so 
much was voted, and he applied it as he pleased. 

The first regular appropriation of supplies was after the 
revolution of 1688. 

Cromwell and his parliament lopped oiF the revenues of the 
crown which were derived from the ancient courts of wards and 
liveries, and which came from the pockets of the landholders, 
and substituted the excise laws^ which take the money from 
the labour of the mass of the people, who are the most numerous 
consumers of the articles of necessity which are subjected to it. 

Under the feudal system, when great estates were granted to 
the lordly baron, and great privileges were also granted to him, 
they were for the public service. He had to act the part of a 
civil magistrate at all times, and in case of war he had to 
furnish his quota of men and the means of equipping them. 
It will, therefore, be seen he did not wholly appropriate the 
whole of his means to himself. 



THE ARMY. 

" Man's earliest arms were fingers, teeth, and nails, 
And stones, and fragments from the branching woods ; 
Then fire and flfimes they join'd, delected soon ; 
Then copper next ; and last, as latest traced, 
The tyrant iron." Lucretius. 

At the settling of this country this was a very poor affair 



THE ARMY. 29 

our forefathers were then more engaged about battling with 
words than with swords. They were greater adepts at scold- 
ing than fighting ; yet their pugnacity had not left them, for 
they soon after fought among themselves. 

After the dispersion of the Spanish armada by a storm, 
and the capture of many of their vessels in detail on vari- 
ous parts of the Scottish and Irish coasts, Great Britain was 
not much annoyed by foreign enemies. This armament, when 
it left the coast of Spain, consisted of one hundred and fifty 
vessels, which had on board twenty thousand soldiers, and 
two thousand volunteers of the first Spanish families : it car- 
ried two thousand six hundred and fifty guns, was victualled 
for half a year, and had a vast quantity of all kinds of military 
stores. It was to be joined by thirty-four thousand men, under 
the Duke of Parma, who were assembled in the Netherlands. 

A fleet of not above thirty ships of war constituted the 
whole navy ready to oppose it at sea. All the commercial 
towns were required to furnish a certain number of vessels. 
London was required to furnish fifteen, but the citizens dou- 
bled that number of their own accord. The nobility and 
gentry also equipped forty-three ships at their own cost. The 
principal fleet was stationed at Plymouth. A squadron of 
forty vessels lay ofi" Dunkirk, to intercept the Duke of P«j f ma 

Camden thus speaks of that event : " And this great armada, 
which had been three complete years in rigging and preparing, 
with infinite expense, was, within one month's space, many 
times fought with, and at the last entirely overthrown, with 
the slaughter of many men ; not four hundred of the English 
being missing nor any ship lost, saving only a small one." 

It seems now pretty fortunate that the armada was dispersed^ 
and so destroyed in detail ; for, from the writers of that period, 
it appears that Essex, Burleigh, and Raleigh were all against 
fighting. Raleigh said, " In a battle the invader can only 
lose men, but the defender may lose a kingdom." In " Pen- 
nant's Tour of the Isle of Wight " he mentions the wealthy 
fleeing from the coast, and gives an account of Queen Bess 
swearing and threatening like a trooper. 

It also appears that there were not above three or four 
thousand horses worth anything for war all over the king- 
dom, and those in gentlemen's stables. 

The old Saxon and feudal policy was essentially military ; 
but those systems had been either modified or destroyed. 
From the time of Philip and Mary, the lord lieutenants of 
the counties had the charge of the army (militia under the 
sovereign) in their respective counties ; and these were raised 
by a sort of impressments. To meet the urgent demand for 

3* 



30 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

soldiers and sailors when threatened by the armada in Queen 
Elizabeth's reign, there was a general impressment on Easter 
Sunday, even in the churches — which verifies the remark of 
Sir Michael Foster, who observes, " that impressment is of 
very ancient date, and the practice of a long series of years." 
According to Blackstone, " the power of impressment of sea- 
faring men for the sea service, by the king's commission, has 
been a matter of some dispute, and submitted to with great 
reluctance." 

Henry VII., at the suggestion of Bishop Fox, 1435, had a 
body guard of fifty men, half bow and arrow men and half 
harquebusiers. They still remain, and are called yeomen of 
the guard — ^but more commonly called beef -eaters^ which any 
one, on seeing them, would be certain they did, in pretty large 
quantities. They always attract great notice from the juve- 
nile part of society, by their original, gaudy, grotesque dresses 
and decorations. That was all the standing army England 
then knew. No one at that period need ask 

<' What are those whisker'd and mustachio'd things — 
Soldiers] Oh, no ! they're skittles made for kings." 

James's courtiers were too busy about hatching plots that 
would enable them the better to rob and torment the Catho- 
lics, to trouble themselves about anything else ; and he was 
dividing his time between his inkstand, his bottle, his hunt- 
ing, his high court commission, and his cruel rack. So the 
people felt that " freedom is only in the realm of dreams."* 

The pay of the soldiers in the time of King James was 
three pence per day for the infantrj^ ; two shillings and six- 
pence for cavalry — one shilling out of that for the horse. 

In describing, in another part of this work, the general dress 
of the gentry, it will be stated that the silk doublet was occa- 
sionally exchanged for a buff coat, reaching half-way down the 
thigh, with or without sleeves, and sometimes laced with gold 
or silver ; and the cloak in that case for a scarf, or sash of silk 
or satin worn either round the waist or over the shoulder, and 
tied in a large bow either behind or on the hip. 

When over this coat was placed the steel gorget, or a 
breast-plate and back-plate, the wearer was equipped for 
battle — complete armour being then confined almost entirely 
to the heavy horse. 

With the reign of Charles I. we may be said to take leave 
of armour. His father. King James, had declared it to be 
an admirable invention, because it prevented the weai'er as 

* Schiller. 



THE ARMY. 



31 



much from doing harm to others, as receiving injury himself; 
and the improvement of fire-arms gradually occasioned the 
abandonment of it piece by piece, until nothing remained but 
the back and breast plates, which were made bullet-proof, and 
the open steel head-piece, or iron pot, as the common sort was 
called. 

The intercourse with Spain in the reign of James had changed 
the name of lancer into cavalier ^ an appellation which distin- 
guished the whole royal party from that of republican under 
Cromwell. 





Catalier, 1620. 



CuiRASSIEK, 1615. 



Buff coats, long buff gloves or gauntlets, and high boots 
of jacked leather, thence called jacked or jack-boots, defended 



32 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OP GREAT BRITAIN. 

sufficiently the rest of the person. Troops so dressed acquired 
the name of cuirassier. 

In 1632 the English cavalry was divided into four classes : 
the cuirassier, the lancers, the carbineers, and the dragoons. 
These last are of French origin, (raised in 1600.) They had a 
gun like a modern blunderbuss, the muzzle representing a 
groveling dragon ; wore only a buff coat, deep skirts, and an 
open head-piece, with cheeks ; and were divided into two 
classes, pikemen and musketeers. But the muskets were 
soon changed for the dragon ; and in 1649 this was abandoned 
for the carbine, without a match or wheel lock, similar to 
those now in use ; and to this was added the bayonet, which 
was an invention of the brave, and learned, and worthy Cati- 
net, a French marshal. The rifle was introduced in the thirty 
years' German wars. 

The lancer was the fullest armed, wearing a close casque 
or head-piece, gorget, breast and back plates, (pistol and culiver 
proof,) pauldrons, vambraces, two gauntlets, tassetts, cules- 
settes, or garde-de-reins, and a buff leather coat, with long skirts 
to wear between his clothes and armour. Their weapons were 
a good sword, "stiff, cutting, and sharp-pointed," a lance 
eighteen feet long, one or two pistols of sufficient bore and 
length, a flask, a cartouch-box, &c. Meyrick says, " cartridges 
were first used to pistols, and they were carried in a steel case." 

The cuirassier had back, breast, and head pieces ; armed only 
with sword and pistol. The harquebusiers, or the carbineers, 
were similarly defended, and, in addition to the above weapons, 
had a carbine. They all wore enormous jack-boots. Soon 
after the close of the American war, I being only a boy in 
petticoats, was put into one of these boots, belonging to a 
private of the Oxford Blues, when I could not look over the 
top, and, being hideously frightened at my situation, and so 
scared, I shall never forget it. 

In 1638 Charles I. incorporated the gun-makers' company 
in Birmingham, which, in the civil wars, supplied the parlia- 
mentary army under Cromwell. When that charter was 
granted, Charles did not contemplate how it was to be used. 

" Oh ! that some voice could penetrate his ear, 
Call up his soul, and free his slaves from bondage !" 

It was the cause of many of his friends biting the dust, over 
whom their friends might sing, 

*' The moonlight that glitters o'er rill and o'er fountain. 
Beams again on the crest of the bold cavalier ; 
But it falls where it lies, on the bleak barren mountain, 
The dark rock his pillow, the blue heath his bier. 



THE ARMY. 



33 



For his brand it was faithless, though true was his quarrel, 
And a traitor has vanquish'd the loyal and brave ; 
But the hand of his lady shall twine with fresh laurel, 
The cypress that weeps o'er the cavalier's grave." 

Before the commencement of the civil wars, the citizens of 
London were carefully trained in the use of the pike and musket. 

The general muster of the civic militia was at first once a 
year ; the training and exercises of individuals took place four 
times a year, and lasted two days each time. These trainings 
were considered very irksome to weary artisans and thrifty 
shopkeepers ; as, independently of the weight of the back and 
breast plates, skull-cap, (all iron,) sword, musket, and bandoliers, 
with which thej^ were obliged to repair to muster, the military 




MUSKETEKR, 1603. 



discipline was of such a complex character, that it both imposed 
much labour and consumed a great deal of time. The ponderous 
match-lock, or carbine, four feet long in the barrel, and dis- 
charged a bullet ten to a pound, had to be put through a long 



34 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

succession of manoeuvres before it could be loaded, primed, and 
discharged. In learning to shoot with it, the soldier citizen 
was obliged to gather courage, and accustom himself to the recoil 
of his piece, by flashing a little powder in the pan : the use of 
wadding for the ball not being as yet understood, he could only 
shoot effectually breast high ; and his fire was delivered in the 
act of advancing, lest he should become himself a mark to the 
enemy while standing to take aim. As for the pike, it was a 
ponderous, heavy weapon, of pliant ash, sixteen feet long ; and 
dexterity in the use of it could only be acquired by frequent 
practice.* The Puritans at first regarded these warlike musters 
in the artillery gardens with abhorrence, as an absolute mingling 
with the profane ; but when they were taught from the pulpits 
that their projected reformation could only be accomplished by 
carnal weapons, they crowded to the exercise with alacrity. "j* 

In the meantime the proud cavaliers, who were still blind 
to the signs of the times, laughed scornfully at these new dis- 
plays of cockney chivalry, and used to declare that it took a 
Puritan two years to learn how to discharge a musket without 
winking. J 

But the laugh was turned against themselves after the civil 
wars commenced, when the pikes and guns of the civic mili- 
tia scattered the fiery cavalry of Prince Rupert, and bore 
down all before them. 

When the Puritans were converted into actual soldiers, they 
marched into the field in high-crowned hats, collared bands, 
great loose coats, long tucks under them, and calves' leather 
Boots. The active Major Shippon used, when riding about, to 
address his men thus : " Come boys, my brave boys, let us pray 
neartily and fight heartily, and God will bless us." They 
used to " sing a psalm, fall on, and beat all opposition to 
the devil. "§ 

There was also some praying on the part of the king's troops. 
It is stated that, at the battle of Edge Hill, (the first onset,) Sir 
Jacob Astley, who commanded the foot, made the following 
remarkable prayer at the commencement : "O Lord ! thou 
knowest how busy I must be this day ; if I forget thee, do not 
thou forget me. March on, boys !" 

It is worthy of remark that the long service and military 
renown of the Puritan campaigners gave them no disrelish, after 
the war had ended, for their former peaceful and humble occu- 
pations ; they resumed their mechanical or handicraft employ- 
ments. 

* Grose's Military Antiquities. 

t Life of Samuel "Butler, in Sotners' Tracts. t Ibid. 

§ Shadwell's comedy of the Volunteers. 



THE ARMY. 35 

On the contrary, the cavaliers still went about with belts 
and swords, swaggering, swearing ^ and brealdng into houses^ 
and stealing whatever they could find. People knew them in 
the dark, and thus remarked : 

" King's troops, sir, I'll be sworn ! 
How know you that, sir? 
Marry my lord, by their swearing." 

The scarlet and blue uniform came into use as a national 
military costume in the reign of Queen Anne. A wood-cut of 
one is given, (p. 193,) offering a billet-deux to a lady. The red 
and white feathers for officers were also in use. To those who 
may be curious in these things, there was published, by com ■ 
mand of William IV., the regular costume of every regiment^ 
with every change from the beginning. 

.Evelyn says, 1678, grenadiers came into use. They were 
to throw hand-grenades : they had their pouches full. They 
also fell on with axes, slings, fire-locks, swords, and daggers^ 

In 1609 began Chelsea Hospital. It had lately 476 in-pen- 
sioners, and about 80,000 out ; and a military school for sol- 
diers' children. 

The present queen (Victoria) has had regimental school- 
mistresses introduced, for teaching sewing and knitting to the 
female offspring of the soldiers. 

The military power of England is about 114,000 men, being 
many thousands more than she had during the first American 
war. The half-pay list contains three generals to every regi- 
ment of soldiers, (horse and foot,) with other officers of all 
grades in proportion. This account does not include the 
county militia, which are only called out in time of war. 

This is a new feature in English history, contrary to all its 
ancient institutions, its ancient maxims, and its ancient policy, 
and has been the means of introducing barracks, whereby the 
army is kept distinct from the people. In a debate on the army 
in 1820, Mr. Hume stated there were then 97 ; but in 1822 
they had increased to 100 in England, Wales, and Scotland, 
and as many in Ireland. There are also yeomanry cavalry. In 
1838 there was ^698,000 voted for the staff" of that department. 

It has been a question whether the musket is a better weapon 
than the bow and arrow. Dr. Franklin, in a letter to Major 
General Lee, (1776,) gives the following six reasons for pre- 
ferring bows and arrows to the musket : 

1. Because a man may shoot as truly with a bow as a com- 
mon musket. 

2. He can discharge four arrows in the time of charging and 
discharging one bullet. 



36 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

3. His object is not taken from his view by the smoke of 
his own side. 

4. A flight of arrows seen coming upon them terrifies and 
subdues the enemy's attention to his business. 

5. An arrow sticking in any part of a man puts him hors du 
combat till it is extracted. 

6. Bows and arrows are everywhere more easily provided 
than muskets and ammunition. He recommends pikes, and 
bows and arrows. 

He quotes Polydore Virgil, and remarks : " If so much exe- 
cution was done by arrows when men wore defensive armour, 
how much more might be done now that it is out of use," 
(speaking of a battle in Edward UI.'s reign.) 

In the year 1830 was published a new system of arming, 
by Francis Macerone, late aid-de-camp to Joachim, (Murat,) 
King of Naples, &c. 

He recommends lances nine feet long, with a fold in the mid- 
dle like a carriage umbrella, and to be slung over the shoulder 
when not in use ; a musket thirty-two inches in the barrel, 
but no bayonet — this to be slung over the shoulder when the 
lance is in use ; and a pistol for close quarter, same calibre as 
the musket, so the same cartridges will do for both : the lance 
and fire-lock together to weigh thirteen pounds, which is four 
ounces less than an English regulation musket and bayonet. 

The present musket and bayonet do not keep cavalry at 
sufficient distance : the infantry are often disabled by the cavalry 
swords ; but the nine feet lance renders the sword of the cavalry 
useless. App. vii. 



COMMERCIAL MARINE. 

" Arts, agriculture, and commerce should go hand in hand." 

Dr. J. Andekson. 

Anderson, in his annals of commerce, says : " As agricul- 
ture is the foundation, so is manufacturing and the fisheries the 
pillars, and navigation the wings of commerce. Astronomy 
and geography are the very eyes of navigation, without which 
no distant voyage can well be performed." 

At the beginning of the seventeenth century it would not 
have been considered unmanly to ^' sit and weep at what a 
sailor suffers ;" as will soon be seen when I state that those 
instruments which are now considered so indispensable to the 



COMMERCIAL MARINE. 37 

due performance of distant voyages, were not known, if I ex- 
cept the mariner's compass.* 

England had but few colonies. She had on this coast New- 
foundland in 1583 ; and, in 1685, Bencoolen in the East Indies. 
Many articles now in great demand were not known at all, 
much less as articles of merchandise. 

I have no doubt but that the commercial marine of this 
Union at the present time is as much, or more than all the 
world was at that period-f The manner of victualling, fur- 
nishing, and fitting out the vessels formerly bore no coir^parison 
with that of the present time. 

The ordinary trade was carried on by the Dutch, who had 
from five to six hundred ships. England had not one-tenth ; 
and she had no ships employed in the north-east of Europe. 

Captain J. Lancaster sailed to the East Indies (under the 
company ; it was the first voyage) in 1601 ; he returned in 1603 
His cargo was cloves, pepper, cinnamon, and calicoes, partly 
taken from a Portuguese carrack which, he captured. The 
vessels then were all armed, and piratical. 

It was certain that a vessel, doubling either of the capes, 
would lose, during her long voyage, many of her crew by death, 
and most of them would return sick. It was only at the time 
of Captain Cook's first voyage (1767) round the world that 
ships began to be fitted out with proper instruments and pro- 
per food and proper medicines. Few ships had quadrants 
before 1734. In 1736 Harrison first went in a king's ship to 
Lisbon, to try his time-piece or chronometer. 

In the late voyages made to discover a passage by the north 
pole, each man was allowed eleven ounces of biscuit, nine 
ounces of pemmican, (meat pounded, dried, seasoned, and 
packed closely,) sweetened cocoa, in powder, sufficient for one 
pint ; rum, one gill per day ; and three ounces of tobacco per 
week. How different is all this to mere salt meat and biscuit, 
and that laid in for a two or three years' voyage. 

It was a common thing for vessels to clue up and lie-to at 
night. This is one reason for the length of the voyages. At 

* The first Insurance trial was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth : the sub- 
ject was then so little known, that it became a question with the court whe- 
ther they had jurisdiction to try it. But an act was passed the forty-third 
year of her reign ; and the same year commenced the Royal Exchange In- 
surance Company. 

t The Secretary of the Navy, in his Report to Congress, December 1st, 
1841, says, the registered seamen in the American ports were, natives, 
9015 ; naturalized, 148 : total, 9163. 

In Bennett's Herald, January 5th, 1843, I saw it stated that the United 
States sailors on the ocean amounted to 62,125. In the U. S. Navy there 
were 6100 ; the remainder were on board the commercial marine, 

4 



38 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

that period they knew nothing of the various currents of winds 
which successive voyages have since discovered to blow regu- 
larly in certain latitudes. 

Benjamin Gosnold, in 1602, was the first navigator who 
made a regular voyage direct across the Atlantic to this country. 
Before that period they used to sail to the West Indies, and 
then coast up the gulf stream. This captain named Cape Cod, 
Martha's Vineyard, and Elizabeth's Islands. 

The following extract from Pennant will show that England 
knew nothing of the north sea whale fishery : " To view these 
animals in a commercial light, we must add that the English 
were late before they engaged in the whale fishery. It appears, 
by a set of queries proposed by an honest merchant in the year 
1575, in order to get information in the business, that we were 
at that time totally ^ignorant of it." 

A charter for the north sea whale fisheries was granted in 
1613. In 1617 is the first mention of whale fins and blubber 
being brought home. The English then not being expert in 
this dangerous employ, it was abandoned, and again taken up 
in the reign of Charles II. In 1774 the largest number of 
ships ever employed was only 254. England engaged in the 
Newfoundland cod fisheries in 1650 — 

" Where they wind them up by barrels full, 
To feed a hungry world." 

Such is all, I believe, that can be said of the foreign fisheries, 
which Franklin called the " agriculture of the ocean." Even 
on her own coast the Dutch, at this early period of our history, 
rivalled the English. 

Not having space to give a full history of this subject, per- 
haps the shortest way will be to give some particulars in a 
chronological order. 

1493. Spain and Portugal divided the commerce of the world 
between them. 

1497. England discovered North America. 

1518. Studding sails began to be used. 

1530. Cordage made at IBristol. 

1534. French had the fUr trade of the St. Lawrence. 

1540. Charts of England and Scotland. 

1589. England had her sail-cloth from Bretagne. 

1599. In an ancient tract is a description of a log^ very simi- 
lar to those now in use. The author is not known ; nor was 
this useful instrument in use until about 1607. 

1603. England had not above 40 ships of 400 tuns. 

1614. Imports from all parts of the world were iS3,141,283 
17*. \Qd. Exports, ^2,090,640 lis. Sd. 



COMMERCIAL MARINE. 39 

1601. The East India Company took possession of the 
Island of St. Helena, for their ships to water at. 

1606. Two charters granted to plant all the American coast. 

1624. All monopolies abolished, and present patent laws 
established. 

1627. Ship timber imported from Ireland. 
The Island of Nevis first planted. 

1628. Dominica claimed by the English and French. 
Sugar cultivated at Barbadoes. 

1629. The Bahamas first planted. 

1631. Printed calicoes imported from India. 

1633. A fishery company established. 

1641. Cotton from Cyprus and Smyrna. 

Cotton, ginger, and sugar imported from Barbadoes. 

1645. Merchants placed their cash with the goldsmiths, who 
oegan also to receive gentlemen's rents, and allow them interest. 
Before that period they used to deposite their monej'' at the 
mint ; but in 1640 Charles I. took possession of ^6200,000. 
There were eight private banks before the Bank of England. 

Child & Co., banking-house, commenced in the protectorate 
of Cromwell. Snow & Co. is older, the oldest in Great 
Britain, if not in Europe. See vol. 2, p. 336. 

1656. The Dutch employed 8000 vessels in the cod and 
herring fisheries. 

Pocket watches. Jamaica taken from the Spaniards. 

1662. The English visited Honduras." 

1670. A charter for Hudson's Bay. 

1672. Sir Samuel Moreland invented the speaking-trumpet. 

1675. Ships began to be sheathed with lead. In 1758 cop- 
per was first used on a British frigate ; and in 1763 on merchant 
shipping. 

1690. Telescopes invented, eighteen inches long, and micro- 
scopes about the same length. 

1696. The Eddystone light-house first built. 

1706. The London Insurance Company formed. 

1772 Dr. Granville suggested the propriety of salting ships 

1784. I believe the first American ship that reached China 
was from Boston, U. S., at this date. 

Sir Walter Raleigh in 1603 suggested the following propo- 
sitions, to be laid before the king : 

1. Foreigners, (Hollanders,) by the privileges they allow to 
strangers, draw multitudes of naerchants to live among them, 
and thereby enrich themselves. 

2. By their storehouses ot magazines of all foreign commo- 
modities, they are enabled to supply other countries, eyen 
those firom which they have bought those commodities. 



40 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

3. By the lowness of the customs of those foreign nations, 
(the Hollanders,) they can well supply themselves. 

4. By the structure or roominess of their ships, holding 
much merchandise, and requiring few hands, they carry goods 
cheaper ; so the Dutch gain all foreign freight, while their 
ships go to Newcastle for coals. 

5. Their prodigious fishery. 

Raleigh said the greatest fishery ever known in the world 
was on the coasts of Great Britain. He also said, " The 
nation that commands the trade of the world commands its 
riches, and, consequently, the world itself." 

Raleigh was of an opposition party to King James ; so the 
latter told him, " I think of thee very rawly, mon," which is 
strongly intimated in the following enigma ; 

" What's bad for the stomach, and the word of dishonour. 
Is the name of the man whom the king will not honour." 

According to McCuUoch, the value of cotton goods in Eng- 
land in 1697 was only i85915, and the raw cotton imported 
was only l,976,8591bs. Until the reign of George HI., there 
was no article made entirely of cotton. In the year 183S 
there wns imported 507,850,5771bs. 

In the year 1660 a contract was made to take Shattuck, 
one of the Society of Friends, over to JN^ew England ; to sail 
in ten days, freight or no freight : the price given was £300. 

Under Cromwell's Navigation Laws, 1651, she always con-^ 
fined her colonies to trade with her alone ; and that system was 
rigidly enforced until 1780. In 1822 there was a change, from 
a protecting system into a regulating duty. 

It will appear evident to the reader that, without foreign 
commerce, there cannot be a national marine. 



ROYAL NAVY. 

" Whose flag has braved a thousand years 
The battle and the breeze." — Campbell. 

This power, which is now so potent, was then but a poor 
affair. Henry VIII. may be said to have been the father 
of it. Before his reign England used to hire what vessels were 
wanted for national purposes. Henry established a navy 
office. All the admirals were more or less pirates. Drake 
was a very extraordinary man, and the best of the English 
commanders, though tainted with piracy. 



ROYAL NAVY. 41 

Some Latin lines were sent by the King of Spain to Queen 
Elizabeth, which are thus translated by Dr. Fuller : 

*• These to you are our commands : 
Send no help to the Netherlands. 
Of the treasure took by Drake, 
Restitution you must make. 

" And those abbies build anew 
Which your father overthrew : 
If for any peace you hope, 
In all points restore the pope." 

She boldly and bravely sent for answer : 

*• Worthy king, know this — your will 
At latter Lammas we'll fulfil." 

There was a common saying among the sailors, " No trea- 
ties are of any effect past the line." 

The Royal Navy in 1578 only amounted to twenty-four 
ships of different sorts. The Triumph, of 1000 tuns, was a 
large ship : she had five masts, (this method of rigging was 
continued to the reign of Charles I. ;) her complement of men 
was 780 ; her armament, 40 cannon. There were only 135 
vessels in the whole kingdom of more than 100 tuns, and 656 
exceeding 40 tuns. 

The Dutch had a powerful marine, and used to sail and 
swagger about the Thames. Their great Admiral De Witt 
used to say, " The master at sea is the master at land !" But 
under Cromwell, th6 lord protector, there was a great change ; 
he restored the naval supremacy, destroyed the Dutch marine, 
and, by his famous Navigation Act, laid her commercial marine 
prostrate. He used to say that " a man-of-war was the best 
ambassador." 

It is scarcely known to the ordinary reader that about 1624 
the Turks and Algirenes infested the British channel, commit- 
ting many frightful depredations ; and this lamentable event 
-was the cause oi di. prayer against pirates being introduced into 
the church litany. 

In 1583 Captain Carlisle suggested the idea of making a set- 
tlement in North America, for taking off idle and licentious 
people, and for tlie purpose of raising naval stores. 

In 1590 Queen Elizabeth appropriated ^£8970 for the re- 
pairs of her fleet. 

In 1610 King James built the finest ship of war England 
ever had. She carried 64 guns, and was 1400 tuns. 

In 1626 King Charles issued a proclamation, ordering every 

sailor twenty shillings per month, which was till then only 

4* 



42 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN 

fourteen, (iiett money,) besides an allowance out of it of four 
pence to a preacher, two pence to a barber, and sixpence per 
month to Chatham Chest ; whereas the ordinary men had but 
nine shillings and four pence nettper month, and no allowance 
at all given to a preacher. 

The oldest marine corps was (1684) the third army regiment. 
It was the Scotch militia, time of George III. 

The English navy ofiicers had no regular uniform until the 
reign of George II. It was taken from a riding-dress of the 
Duchess of Bedford. 

Greenwich hospital, for sailors, was partly commenced by 
Queen Mary, but not fully brought into application until the 
reign of William III. A few years past there were in it 2710 
pensioners and 168 nurses ; the total number of residents inside 
was 3500. There were 32,000 out- pensioners, and a naval 
school for sailors' children. 

By an act of Queen Anne, parish or beggar boys may be 
apprenticed to the sea service when ten years of age. 

King James's fleet consisted of twenty-four vessels. 

During this century there were some changes in warlike 
vessels. 

1585. Floating mines were used at the siege of Antwerp. 

1588. Fire-ships used against the Spaniards. 

1679. Bernard Renau d'Elisagary was the inventor of bomb 
vessels. 

1692. After the battle off Cape La Hague, gun-boats were 
used. 

There were but few observatories. The first in Europe was 
at Casel ; next was Tycho Brahe's, 1576. The Copenhagen 
astronomical tower was built 1656 ; the French one 1668. 
The English built one at Greenwich in 1675, from which almost 
all nations now calculate. The calculations were formerly made 
from Faroe. The Dutch and Germans reckon from Teneriffe. 

There are three on this continent ; at Toronto, Cambridge, 
and Philadelphia. 

There were but few light-houses, so that coasting vessels 
had to make more dangerous voyages — 



-'Till the beacon fire blazed 



Like a star in the midst of the ocean." 

The Foreland light-house, in Kent, was built in 1683, The 
total number now on the coast of Great Britain is 178. 

But there were light-houses in more early periods. There 
is a pharos now remaining, built by the Romans, on Dover 
Heights ; and one on the Isle of Wight, octagon outside, square 
within, three stories high, and cone shape, finish at top. It 



ROYAL NAVY. 



43 



stands 750 feet above high-water mark. This one w^as dedi- 
cated to St. Catherine in 1323. The top story was a light- 
house, and in the bottom was a cell for the priest. The pious 
people of that period blended the light of religion with the 
lights of benevolence, care, and caution. 

To give the reader an idea of ship building at that period, 
the Betsy Cairns^ which brought King William the Third to 
England, (1689,) was then several years old; she was sold 
to a merchant in the time of George 1., and employed in the 
coal trade until February, 1827. She was then wrecked on 
Tynemouth Bar, and lost for want of timely aid ; but her timbers, 
after a lapse of 140 years, were found in sound condition. 

" The ship Discovery (now under the Belgian flag, and 
called the Rubens) accompanied Captain Cooke in his voyage 
of discovery, 1776. She cannot be less than seventy years 
old : she has the appearance of a fine brig." — Portsmouth 
Paper, 1842. 

In Dr. Southey's " Early Naval History of England " he 
states that Seius Saturnius was the first high admiral whose 
name appears in history, and the only Roman whose name has 
%een preserved. 

J In 1294 England had three admirals ; John of Bottetourt, 
William of Ley burn, and an Irishman, name not known. 

Sir John Crombwell was, in the year 1324, admiral of the 
fleet to Gascony. I believe this is the first time that name 
occurs in our history. 

The following list of distinguished men were originally 
cabin-boys : 

Admirals. 
Sir Francis Drake, 
Sir John Hawkins, 
General Deane, 
Col. Raineborough, 
Sir John Narbrugh, 
Sir Wm- Penn, 
Sir Cloudesley Shovell. 



Vice Admirals. 
Sir Wm. Batten, 
Sir John Lawson, 
Capt. Badilow, 
Sir T. Tiddeman, 
Capt. Peacock, 
Capt. Goodson, 
Sir C. Mings, 
Sir J. Harman, 
Sir J. Berry. 



Rear Admirals. 
Sir R. Stainer, 
Capt. Moulding, 
Capt. Deacons, 
Capt. Sansum. 



Number of masters, 1484 



2299 ; in the sea counties, 



,,11,515; 



and fishermen. 



mariners, 
1583. 
The number of wherrymen between London Bridge and 
Gravesend was 957. There are now 8000. 

The origin of the name " Union Jack " is supposed to have 
been given by the English sailors because King James, or 
Jaques^ in 1607, united the St. Andrew's cross with the cross 
of St. George, as now used. 



44 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

There is a chair now in the museum at Oxford, made of the 
oak which composed the ship Pelican, which carried Drake 
round the world in 1577. 

The naval power of England at this time consists of seventy- 
six war steamers and 600 other vessels of war ; and she has 
on half-pay two admirals to every ship of the line, with other 
officers of all grades in proportion. 



CHARACTER OF THE RULERS. 

"Kings are ambitious, the nobility haughty, and the populace tumul- 
tuous and ungovernable." — Burke. 

I THINK it proper to give a short account of the different con- 
duct of the rulers ; for perhaps there never was a period in 
which there was so much difference, and in which a difference 
produced so much effect. 

James I. was the son of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of 
Scots. He was a Presbyterian, and had been a pensioner of 
Queen Elizabeth while he governed Scotland. His personal 
appearance was most uncouth: his legs were too weak to 
carry his body, his tongue too large for his mouth ; he had 
great goggle eyes, yet his rolling stare showed a vacant mind ; 
his apparel was neglectful and dirty ; his whole appearance 
and bearing was slovenly and ungenteel ; and his unmanly 
fears were betrayed by his wearing a thickly wadded dagger- 
proof doublet. He was a great sportsman. He degraded the 
order of knighthood by making more than one hundred knights. 
The total number of peerages conferred by him in the three 
kingdoms was two hundred and twenty-six, of which ninety- 
one only remain. 

He showed his tyrannical disposition by ordering a man to 
be hanged, without any sort of trial, at Ne war k-upon -Trent, 
(1603,) on his first progress to London, who had been detect- 
ed committing a robbery on one of his courtiers. 

He loved coarse jokes and buffooneries : he was a great inven- 
tor of nick-names and practical jokes ; and happy was the man 
who could so take them as to provoke in return a royal chuckle. 

The following anecdote will explain the opinion and confi- 
dence which could be placed in this king : " Sir Paul Pindar 
brought home from Turkey a diamond valued at £30,000. 
The king wished to buy it of him on credit : this the sensible 
merchant declined, but favoured his majesty with the loan of 



CHARACTER OF THE RULERS. 45 

it Oil gala days. His unfortunate son and successor became 
the purchaser." — Pennant. 

" He was a bold liar, rather than a good dissembler." 

The following verse is a fair description of him as a patron 
of the arts : 

" James both for empire and for arts unfit, 
His sense a quibble and a pun his wit ; 
Whate'er works he patronized he debased, 
Bat hap'ly left the pencil undisgraced." Hayley. 

His son, Charles I., had a coldness in his character and tem- 
perament : he was of gentlemanly manners and decorous habits. 
He discountenanced his father's profligacy and excesses ; so 
that a more general sobriety of conduct became the prevailing 
manners of the court. He was, for his amusement, a patron of 
the fine arts. But the progress of the sour, snappish, and rigid 
Puritans so excited the horror and hatred of the aristocracy, 
that he could not restrain them ; and they, to show attachment 
to his cause, which was also their own, swore, bawled, drank, 
and intrigued by way of contrast. He had no more political 
good sense, but quite as strong a tincture of tyranny and 
haughtiness as his father. 

Cromwell, who may be said to have had tyrannic sway from 
1649 to 1659, was widely different from them both in his 
habits and manners ; and, curious enough, was not really liked 
by anybody. He seemed like what is often displayed in com- 
mon life — a talented meclianic in a large manufactory, whose 
range of talents just suited the place, from his general activity 
and powerful mental and various handy, ever-ready applica- 
tion ; which embraces everything, and keeps altogether, though 
never liked by his employers or those employed under him. 
The following anecdote from Hanway's " Virtues in Humble 
Life," shows a curious feature in the history of this extraordi- 
nary period, 1655 : " Two rabbles (Jews) had several inter- 
views with Cromwell ; they supposing that, as he had been so 
successful in subverting the church and state, he might per- 
chance be the promised Messiah. He gave them no other 
countenance beyond a bare connivance at their admission. 
They came from Asia." App. viii. 

This extraordinary man was a main instrument in killing the 
King ; which is well expressed in the following enigma : 

" The heart of a loaf and the top of a spring 
Is the name of a man who beheaded a king." 

Although the peers had been abolished as a branch of the 



46 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

parliament, he had some aristocratic feelings about him, and 
exercised the kingly prerogative so far as to make Maurice 
Fenton, of Dublin, a baronet ; and he himself had an inten- 
tion of being king, if, in his own opinion, the different factions 
"would have permitted it. He was nearly all his time engaged 
in war ; and, strange to say, not brought up to it, nor taken to 
it until he was forty-three years old. 

After Cromwell came Charles II., who was a splendid pro- 
fligate, and whose court was overwhelmed with all the de- 
baucheries of the French court. 

After him came James II., who was sober and frugal in his 
habits and expenses. And he meant to be tolerant in religion. 

Then came William and Mary. William was a Dutchman, 
with plenty of war, in which he was personally engaged ; but 
there was in his habits and manners a quiet, simple, and tho- 
roughly unostentatious greatness. 

After them, Queen Anne, who was most intolerant. 

It must readily strike the reader that each of these charac- 
ters, differing from each other, must have naturally affected 
the habits and manners of the court during their respective 
periods ; and from the court downward, through the other 
grades of society ; proving that " in human society nothing is 
stable," and that " the Protestant reformation has given great 
power to kings." — Dr. Danham. • 

Dr. King, in speaking of the fatality which attended the 
house of Stuart, says : " If I were to ascribe their calamities 
to any other cause than an evil fate, or endeavour to account 
for them by any natural means, I should think they were chiefly 
owing to a certain obstinacy of temper which appears to have 
been hereditary in all the Stuarts, except Charles II. 



CROUCHING MEANNESS OF THE COURTIERS. 

" Surely the race was of another breed, 
That met their monarch John at Runnymede." 

In all societies there must be forms of address to rulers and 
governors ; but those forms need not be such as imply an abject, 
submissive crouching. 

The letter announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth, from 
the council, in London, to James, in Scotland, begins : " Right 
High, Right Excellent and Mighty Prince, and our Dread So- 
vereign." The dedication of the present church of England 



CROUCHING MEANNESS OF THE COURTIERS. 47 

bible, which was translated in his reign, is too fulsome, too 
blasphemous to relate. 

When he went in state to take possession of the Tower of 
London, (which was formerly the town residence of their sove- 
reigns ; Queen Elizabeth was the last who resided there,) a 
congratulatory oration was delivered, beginning, " To the High 
and Mighty King James of England, Scotland, France, (with- 
out an inch of land,) and Ireland, King defender of the Faith," 
&c. When, after a great deal of fulsome rigmarole, it finished 
with the following quotation from Homer : 

" It is not good that many heads bear rule in any land ; 
Let one be sovereign, king, and lord, and so decrees may stand." 

I know the rule was to mix up a mess of sacred and profane 
adulation ; it was the fashion ; but that does not make it right, 
nor less censurable. It could not fail to have an injurious 
effect. 

In the first proclamation he issued calling a parliament, he 
told the commons plainly what sort of men to choose ; and, if 
^;iey did not choose men of that sort, he should deprive them 
of their liberties and privileges. This is what was never done 
before. . 

The following is a loyal epigram : 

" Mardal, thou gav'st far nobler epigrams 
To thy Don than I can to my James ; 
But in my royal subject T pass thee — 
Thou flatter'd'st thine, mine cannot flattered be." 

How well do the following satiric lines apply to them : 

" Who would not laugh to see a tailor bow 

Submissive to a pair of satin breeches 1 

Saying, oh ! breeches, all men must allow 

There's something in your aspect that bewitches. 
Who would not exclaim, the tailor's mad 1 
Yet tyrant adoration is as bad." 

A nobleman who tendered a petition without regarding a 
favourite roan palfrey and its tawdry trappings belonging to 
the king, got no answer. He again petitioned, and still no 
reply : at length an inquiry was made to the royal noodle, 
through the lord treasurer, to ascertain the royal silence. 
James angrily exclaimed, " Shall a king give heed to a dirty 
paper, when a beggar noteth not the gilt stirrups V^ Hence, 
when the king rode out upon this, the noblest animal of the two, 
the people used to say, " there goes three beasts," the horse, the 
ass, and the mule ; meaning the ga^dy saddle was the mule, 
that being between the horse and the rider. ., 



4S THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

They used to declaim against the Puritans^ and swear by 
his book, the " Basilicon Doron," praise him by lauding his 
hunting and his horsemanship, and called him the Solomon^ 
*' the light of the age." 

Waller, the poet, relates the following anecdote : Bishop 
Andrews and Bishop Neal were standing behind the king's 
(Charles) chair as he sat at dinner on the day he dissolved 
his last parliament. He turned round and addressed the two 
prelates thus : " My Lords, cannot I take my subjects' money 
without all this formality of parliament." Bishop Neal (of 
Durham) readily answered, " God forbid. Sire, but you should ; 
you are the breath of our nostrils." Whereupon the king turn- 
ed and said to Andrews, (Bishop of Winchester,) " Well, my 
Lord, what say you?" '' Sire," replied the bishop, ^^ I have 
no skill to judge of such parliamentary cases." The king 
answered, " No put-offs, my Lord ; answer one presently." 
" Then, Sire," said he, " I think it is lawful for you to take 
my brother Neal's money, for he offers it." What a thing this 
is to relate ! surely these men were scarcely sane ! 

The high English character had greatly declined. There 
was a Sir H. Lee, who was courtier or croucher, (for that is 
what he must have been,) who enjoyed the confidence of Henry 
VHL, Edward VL, and Queens Mary and Ehzabeth. He 
wrote the following axioms in his common-place book : 

" Fly the courte, Devise nothing, Learne to spare, Pray often, 
Speke little, Never be earnest, Spend in measure, Live better. 
Care less, In answer cold, Care for home, And dye well." 

Great part of this is mere " serpentine prudence " or " co- 
lumbine simplicity." 

'*He would not, with a peremptory tone, 
Assert the nose upon his face his own." 

Now, reader, be pleased to peruse the following sensible, 
plain, and well-written petition. If that contained all the poor 
man's grievances, they were not many : 

THE POOR MAN'S PETITION, WROTE Hth APRIL, 1603. 

TO BE PRESENTED TO KING JAMES ON HIS ARRIVAL AT THEOBALD'S PALACE. 

Good King, let their be uniformities in true religion, without 

any disturbances. 
Good King, let good preachers be provided for, and, without 

any bribery, come to their livings. 



ENGLISH CONSTITUTION. 49 

Good King, let poore souldiers be paide their wages ; whilst 
they be well employed and well provided for when 
they be maymed. 

Good King, let there not be such delaies and craftie proceed- 
inges in the law^es, and let lawiers have moderate 
fees. A p~x take the proude, covetuous attornes 
and merciless lawiers ! 

Good King, let no man have more offices than one, especialiie 
in the cases touching the lawe. 

Good King, let poore suitors be hard (heard) quietlie and with 
speede, and dispatched favorablie. 

Good King, let ordinarie causes be determined in the ordinarie 
courts, and let not the chauncerie be made a common 
shifting-place to prolonge causes for private gaifie. 

Good King, cut off the paltry licenses and all monoplies. Fye 
upon all close-byting knaveries ! 

Good King, suffer not great ordonance^ to be carriede out of the 
Realme to the enemies, as it hath beene. A plague 
upon all covetuous, gryping treasurers ! 

Good King, looke to thy takers and officers of this house, and 
to their exceeding fees, that pule and powie thy 
princely allowance. 

Good King, let us not be oppressed with so many impositions, 
powlays, and paisments. 

Good King, make not the Lord of Lincoln Diike of Shore- 
ditch, for he is a . 

Good King, make not Sir Walter Raleigh Earl of Pancrass, 
for he is a ■. 

Good King, love us, and we will love thee, and will spend 
our last blood for thee. 
The king arrived at Theobald's Palace May 3d.^ 



ENGLISH CONSTITUTION. 

" Such was its simplicity, and each element so responsive to the natural 
speech of the human heart, that I conceive its Anglo-Saxon founders never 
dreamed of ^zi^im^ it into ivriting.^' — John Cabtwkight. 

There can be only a few of my readers who do not know 
that, by the laws of England, the people are governed by a king, 
an hereditary house of lords, and a house of commons, and 
that such has been the case for more than a thousand years ; 
except during the time of the commonwealth, after they had 
* From a MS. in Exeter Cathedral. 
b 



60 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

chopped off the'liead of the king and abolished the house of 
lords. The proceedings of those few years so sickened the 
people by their fanaticism, tyranny, peculation, corruption, and 
robbery, that they gladly took back the king's son and the 
house of lords. 

Although there never was a written Constitution like the 
American one, ye^^ its leading principles were all well known 
only those parts of it, however, were regarded which suited the 
various parties that were in power. And so it will ever be in all 
countries, without the most constant vigilance on the part of the 
people ! 

Dr. Wiseman states, "It is singular that we have a letter 
addressed by one of the oldest popes anterior to the Norman 
Conquest of 1066, saying the constitution of government of all 
the other nations of Europe are less perfect than that of Eng- 
land, because they are based on the Theodosian code, (Theo- 
dosius died 393,) originally a heathen code ; while the con- 
stitution of England has drawn its forms and provisions from 
Christianity, and received its principles from the church." 

The author of " Europe during the Middle Ages " states 
that " mutual responsibility pervaded the whole Saxon period. 
The laws of Ethelbert, King of Kent, (862,) are the oldest laws 
descended down to us. The laws of Withred (from 694 to 
725) were passed during the first five years of his reign, amid 
a concourse of clergy, headed by Breathwald, Archbishop of 
Canterbury : thej^ partake more of an ecclesiastical than a tem- 
poral character. Alfred's laws (872) were derived partly 
from the unwritten collections, and partly from the observances 
of the people, and partly from the Book of Exodus. The laws 
of Edward the Confessor (from 1042 to 1066) exhibit an 
improvement in the social principles of combination ; also a 
great advance in the principles of feudality : but as yet there 
was no uniformity." 

During the last sixty years there has been great efforts made 
by some of the best men of that period to obtain a reform in 
the elections of the commons' house of parliament ; while 
those in power (as crafty as the rogue who, while running 
away, calls out the most lustily, stop thief!) cried out against 
innovation. Mr. Cobbett, in a lecture at Manchester in 1831, 
notices this cry of the corrupt, and stated that he finds the old 
institutions to be sixteen in number, viz. : 

1. The common law of England. 

2. An hereditary king, having well-known powers and pre- 
rogatives. 

3. An hereditary peerage, with titles and privileges, and cer- 
tain legislative and judicial powers. 



ENGLISH CONSTITUTION. Q'x 

4. A house of commons, chosen by the people ; and in the 
choice of whom the peers are forbidden to interfere. 
' 5. A court of chancery, having a chancellor at the head of 
it, appointed by the king. 

6. Three courts of law, the judges of which are appointed 
by the king. 

7. Juries, to try causes and accusations under the advise 
and assistance of the judges. 

8. Courts of quarter sessions, and petty sessions, and justices 
of the peace. 

9. Mayors and magistrates, to administer justice in cities and 
towns. 

10. Sheriffs, to impanel jurors, and to execute the writs arni 
other legal commands of the judges and justices. 

11. Coroners, to examine sudden and accidental deaths of 
any of the people. 

12. Constables, to obey the judges and justices in the perfor- 
mance of acts necessary to the keeping of the peace and the 
execution of justice. 

13. Manorial lordships, having in most cases the power or 
appointing constables, and other petty officers for keeping the 
peace. 

14. Jails, for the purpose of enabling the sheriff to keep safe 
the criminals committed to his charge. 

15. Parish stocks, for the punishment of petty offenders. 

16. A church established by law, having a ritual also esta- 
blished by law. 

Among the benevolences of former times there were briefs 
granted in case of fires : the modern system of insurance has 
superseded them. These briefs were read in churches, and the 
collections were handed over to the sufferers. 

In the reign of Edward I. there were briefs for the repairs 
of London Bridge. 

There is a custom founded on the 21st chap, of Exodus, 
V. 28, called a Deodandj from Deo dandum, (given to God.) 

" What moves to death, or killed the dead, 
Is deodand, and forfeited." 

A penalty is laid, or the thing itself is forfeited to charitable 
purposes, which takes away any person's life. This cautionary 
law makes people' careful. There was a fine of ^1500 laid 
upon the boilers of the steamer Victoria, which blew up at Hull 
about four years past. This is one of the duties of the coroner's 
ofhce. 

Such may be said to be the constitution of England, under 



52 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

which system she has become what she now is ; but under it 
she has also been great and happy. 

During the commonwealth there were a few changes for the 
better, and some much for the worse. Some I have alluded to, 
in speaking of Judge Hale. In 1655 special juries were first 
introduced, which seem to have been occasioned by the want 
of more information in mercantile concerns than ordinary juries 
possessed ; and there were also some regulations about granting 
new trials. 



TORTURE. 

" Power unjustly obtained never is of long duration," — Seneca. 

Mr. Jardine, in his excellent work on the use of " Criminal 
Torture in England," states the last instance of it was in 1640. 
It began under Henry VUI. Fifty-six warrants were issued 
for the apph cation of the bloody rackivom. Edward VI. 's reign 
to Charles I. ; yet against all the well-known laws, and contrary 
to an express provision of magna charta. It was applied as the 
king^s prerogative. 

The following is the description of the court of star cham- 
ber, by Lord Bacon : " This court of star chamber is compound- 
ed of good elements, for it consisted of four kinds of persons — 
counsellors, peers, prelates, and chief judges. It descendeth 
also to four kinds of causes — forces, frauds, crimes, various 
stellionates, (cheating,) and the inchoations of middle acts 
toward crimes, capital or heinous, not actually committed or 
perpetuated." Here was no trial by jury nor trial by a man's 
peers, which was guarantied by magna charta as every Eng- 
lishman's birth-right. God preserve us all from such ^^ good 
elementSj^^ say I. It was a horrible den of persecution and 
robbery, admirably suited to the capacities of the "/owr kinds 
of persons,^'' who, 

" As dogs that fight about a bone, 
Will play together where there's none." 

In 1688, when they had what they used to brag about, a 
" glorious revolution.,'^'' which merely brought a new family to 
reign over them, they had the Bill of Rights, which Paine 
describes with the follow ins: bitino; sarcasm : " AVhat is it but 
a bargain which the parts of the government made with each 
other, to divide powers, profits, and privileges .? ' You shall have 



TORTURE LAW CHARACTERS 53 

SO much, and I will have the rest ;' and, with respect to the 
nation, it is said, '/or your share 3'oa shall have the right of 
petitioning.'' This being the case, the Bill of Rights is more 
properly the hill of wrongs and of insults ;" and the conse- 
quence arising therefrom is, they are become " a nest of tyrants 
and a den of slaves ^''^ and may say, 

*'- Our prayers insulted, our petitions mock'd, 
Our rights invaded, and our reasons shock'd, 
Our country mortgaged, and our brethren slain — 
What now remains] why, we ourselves remam !" 

Then why not enforce a change ? and such a change as shall 
once more bring forth the cheap and simple elements of your 
former Anglo-Saxon constitution, so clearly explained by John 
Cartwright in his excellent work, " The English Constitution 
produced and illustrated," 1823. 

" A commonwealth, if virtuous, may despise 
The stroke of fate, and see the world's last hour." 

The commonwealth of England certainly did not approach 
to virtue, and, therefore, it survived but little more than aii 
apprenticeship : but it has left behind it some of the greatest 
miseries that a nation ever was cursed with, " too numerous tc 
be numbered by man's arithmetic !" Among others that might 
be named, the Excise is, of all others, the most dreadful. That 
abominable system sends men about their affairs and their 
premises at all hours, day or night ; even the Sabbath is not 
sacred, armed at all points with oaths, informations, pains, and 
penalties without number. I have not a doubt but the mere 
expense of collecting this devilish system costs more (1842) 
than the whole revenue of King Charles, whose head they 
chopped off. Every Englishman now seems 

-Like an ass, whose back with ingots bend, 



Bear on their miscalled riches but a journey, 
'Till knaves of state unload him," 



LAW CHARACTERS. 

" Great is the advantage to be derived from the study of characters.''' 

Bt'KDON 

The Lord Keeper Guildford was the second son of Dudley 
Lord North. He was very young when first put to school, and 

5* 



54 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

that but indifferent tutorage. His first master was Willis, who 
kept a school at Isleworth ; he was a rigid Presbyterian, and 
his wife a furious Independent. These two sects at that time 
contended for a pre-eminence in tyranny ; reaping the fruits 
of a too successful rebellion, which conjured up a spirit of 
opposition between them, so that they hated each other more 
than either the bishops or the Catholics themselves. 

For his exhibition his father allowed him only d660 per an- 
num at first. But the family being hard pinched for supplies 
toward educating and disposing of many younger children, and 
his parents observing him to pick up some pence by court- 
keeping, besides an allowance of i620 per annum from his 
grandfather, and a little practice, they reduced him to £50. 
This sat hard upon his spirits. 

Along with the law Mr. North studied arts and languages. 
He had previously been at St. John's College, Cambridge. He 
practised and played upon the lyra viol, which he used to 
touch lute-fashion upon his knees. 

I shall give two amusing anecdotes characteristic of these 
times on the circuit. The first relates to Sergeant Earle on the 
Norfolk circuit. He (North) was exceedingly careful to keep 
fair with the cocks of the circuit, and particularly the said Earle, 
who had almost a monoply of practice. The sergeant was a 
very covetous man, and, when none would starve with him on 
the circuit, this kept him campany. Once at Cambridge the 
sergeant's man brought his lordship a cake, telling him he 
would want it ; for he knew his master would not draw bit till 
he came to Norwich,* and it proved so. They jogged on, and 
at Barton Mills his lordship asked the sergeant if he would not 
take a mouthful there. " iVo, 6o?/," said he, " wc'// light every 
ten miles'^ end, and get to Norwich as soon as we can.'^'^ And 
there was no remedy. Once he asked the sergeant in what 
method he kept his accounts ; '^for you have,''^ said he, *' lands, 
securities, and good coming s-in of all kinds.^^ " Accounts, boy,"^ 
said he ; " / get as much as I can, and spend as little as I can; 
and there is all the accounts I keep.^^ 

The other anecdote relates to some of the habits of the circuits 
at this time. " Before I mention the farther steps of his lord- 
ship's rising, I must get rid of a scurvy downfall he had, which 
had well-nio;h cost him his life. That he was what was called 
a sober person was well known ; but withal he loved a 
merry glass with a friend. Being invited to dine with a few 
of the counsel at Colchester, with the recorder, Sir John Shaw, 
who was well known to be one of the greatest kill-cows at 

* It is necessary to say here that lawyers always went their circuits on 
horseback. Eldon went his circuit on horseback so late as the year 1780. 



LAW CHARACTERS. 55 

drinking in the nation, he, with the rest of his brethren, by 
methods very well known, got very drunk. They were o-bliged 
to go on, and in that condition mounted ; but some dropped, and 
others proceeded. His lordship's clerk, Lucas, a very drunken 
fellow, but at that time not far gone, thought it a duty to 
have a special care of his master, who, having had one fall, 
(contrary to the sound advice of his experienced clerk,) would 
needs get up again, calling him all to naught for his pains. 
His lordship was got upon a very sprightly nag, that trotted on 
very hard, and Lucas came near to him to persuade him not to 
go so fast ; but that put the horse upon the run, and away he 
went with his master, at full speed, so as none could follow him. 
The horse, when he found himself clear of pursuers, slackened 
his pace by degrees, and went, with his rider fast asleep upon 
his back, into a pond to drink ; and there sat his lordship upon, 
the saddle. But providentially Mr. Card, a practiser of con- 
veyancing in Gray's Inn, came up time enough to get the horse 
out of the pond before he fell off; otherwise his life would have 
been lost. They took him to a public-house nigh at hand, and 
left him to the care of his man, but so dead drunk that he knew 
not what had happened to him. He was put into a bed, and the 
rest of the company went on, for fear of losing their market = 
Next morning, when his lordship awoke, he found he was in a 
strange place, and that at the fire-side in the same room there 
were some women talking softly, (for talk they must ;) he sent 
out all his senses to find out what was the matter. He could 
just perceive they talked of him. He then called for Lucas, 
and bid all go out of the room but him, and then said to him, 
" Lucas, where am /?" He was glad the danger, which Lucas 
now explained, was all over, and got up to go after his fellows. 
I remember, when his lordship told the story himself, he said 
the image he had when his horse first trotted, and so faster and 
faster, was as if his head knocked against a large sheet of 5ead 
as a ceiling over him ; and after that he remembered nothing 
at all of what had happened till he awoke."* 

Since nothing historical is amiss in a design like this of this 
extraordinary period, I will give a little more from this work, 
being from a writer who states, " what I have personally noted, 
and of indubitable report concerning these men." 

" Oh ! where their sway the curse of meaner powers, 
And they the shame of any realm but ours 1" 

* " The Life of the Right Honourable Francis North, Baron of Guildford, 
lord keeper of the great seal under Kings Charles II. and James II." By 
the Honourable R. North. 



*S6 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

JUDGE JEFFERIES. 

" His looks were dreadful, and his fiery eyes, 

Like two great beacons, glared far and wide, 

Glancing askew, as if his enemies 

He scorned in his overwheening pride ; 

And shaking stately, like a crane did stride 

At every step upon the tip toes high ; 

And all the way he went, on every side, 

He gazed about, and stared horribly, 
As if be, with his looks, all men would terrify." Spencer. 

Op this man, " damned to everlasting infamy ^^^ Roger North 
gives the following particulars : " To take him from his be- 
ginning, he was the son of a Welch gentleman, who used to 
say, ^ his son George would die in his shoes.'' His beginnings 
at the Inns of Courts and practice were low. After he was 
called to the bar he used to sit in coffee-houses, and order his 
man to come and tell him that company was waiting at his 
chamber ; at which he would huff and say, ' let them stay a 
little ; I will come presently.' This made a show of business, 
of which he had need enough, having a wife and several chil- 
dren. One of the aldermen of the city was of his name, Avhich 
inclined him into that part, where, having got acquaintance 
with the city attorneys, and drinking desperately with them, 
he came into full business, and was chosen recorder. That 
let him into knowledge at court, and he was entertained as the 
Duke of York's solicitor, and also king's counsel. He con- 
tinued recorder till the prosecution of abhorrers, and saved 
himself (as he took it) by composition for his place. There- 
upon, having surrendered his recordership, he obtained the 
chief justiceship of the King's Bench ; and, after the death of 
Lord Keeper Guildford, the great seal, which he held till the 
Prince of Orange landed, (King William HI.) 

The following passages give a fearful picture of the times ; 
so bad, if it came from a less questionable source, it might be 
rejected as untrue. " There is one branch of that chief's 
expedition in the west, which is his visitation of the city 
of Bristol," which has particular reference to this Union. 
" There had been a usage among the aldermen and justices 
of the city to carry over criminals who were pardoned with 
condition of transportation, and to sell them for money in the 
American plantations. This was found to be a good tpade ; 
but, not being content to take such felons as were convicts at 
their sessions and assizes, which produced but few, they found 
out a shorter way, which yielded a greater plenty of this living 
fleshy commodity — which was this : The mayor and justices 
usually met at their tolsey (a court-house by their exchequer) 



LAV7 CHARACTERS. 57 

about noon, which was the meeting of the merchants as at the 
Exchange ; and there they sat and did justice business that was 
brought before them. VVhen small rogues and pilferers were 
brought there, and, upon examination, put tmder the terror of 
being hanged, in order to which mittimuses were making out, 
some of the diligent officers attending instructed the poor crea- 
tures to pray for transportation, as the only possible way to 
save their lives. Then no more was done ; but the next alder- 
man took his turn in regular course, and another as his turn 
came ; (sometimes the greedy villains quarrelling whose the 
last turn was ;) and so sent them over to America and sold them. 
This trade had been driven for some years, and no notice taken 
of it. Some of the wealthier aldermen, though they had sat 
in the court and connived, as Sir Robert Cann for instance, 
never had a man ; but yet they were all involved in this ini- 
quitous system when the charge came over them. It does not 
appear how this infamous subject came before the lord chief 
justice ; but, when he had hold of the end, he made thorough 
stitch-work with them ; for he delighted in such fair opportu- 
nities to rant. He came to the city, and told them he had a 
new broom to sweep them. The corporation of the city of 
Bristol was a proud body ; and their head, the mayor, in the 
assize commission, is put before the judges of assize ; though 
perhaps it was not so in this extraordinary commission of Oyer 
and Terminer. But when his lordship came upon the bench, 
and examined the matter, he found all the aldermen and justices 
concerned in this iniquitous kidnapping trade, and the mayor 
himself as bad as any. He thereupon turns to the mayor, 
accoutred in his scarlet and furs, and gave him all the ill names 
that his Billings-gate, scolding eloquence could supply; and 
so, with rating and staring, as was his way, never left him till 
he made him quit the bench and go down to the criminals' post 
at the bar ; and there he pleaded for himself, as any common 
rogue or thief must have done ; and, when the mayor hesitated 
a little, or slackened his pace, he bawled at him, and, stamping, 
called for his guards — for he was a general by commission. 
Thus the citizens saw their scarlet chief magistrate at the bar, 
to his infinite terror, and their amusement. He then took 
security of them to answer information, and so left them to 
ponder their cases among themselves. At London Sir Robert 
Cann applied, by friends, to appease him, and to get them from 
under the prosecution. The prosecutions depended till the 
Revolution, which made an amnesty ; and the fright only^ 
which was no small one, was all the punishment these judicial 
kidnappers underwent ; and the gains acquired by so wicked 
a trade rested peaceably in their pockets." 



68 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

In reading; forward this interesting volume, so characteristic 
of the times, 1 cannot resist giving the following farther gra- 
phic account of the notorious JefferieSj " a brain of feathers 
and a heart of lead ;" noisy in nature, turbulent at first set- 
ting out, deserter in dilRculties, and full of tricks : " His friend- 
ship and conversation lay much among the good fellows and 
humorists ; and his delights were, accordingly, drinking, < 
laughing, singing, kissing, and all the extravagances of the 
bottle. He had a sort of banterers for the most part near him, 
as in olden times great men kept fools to make them merry ; and 
these fellows, low-cunninged and unprincipled, often abusing - 
each other and their betters, were a regale to him. When he 
was in temper, and matters indifferent came before him, he 
became the seat better than any other I ever saw in his place. 
He took a pleasure in mortifying fraudulent attorneys, and 
would deal forth his severities with a sort of majesty. He 
had extraordinary natural abilities, but little acquired, beyond 
what practice in affairs had supplied. He talked fluently and 
with ability, and with considerable spirit ; and his weakness 
was, that he could not reprehend without scolding in Billings- 
gate language, such as should not come out of the mouth of 
any man. But this he called gwing a lick with the rough side 
of his tongue. It was ordinary to hear him say, ' Go ! you 
are a filthy, lousy, nitty rascal.' Scarce a day passed that 
he did not, when in chancery, give a lecture to some one of 
this sort, a quarter of an hour long. And they used to say, 
* This is yours ; my turn will be to-morrow.' He seemed to 
lay nothing of his business to heart, nor care what he did or 
left undone, and spent in the chancery court what time he 
thought fit to spare. Many times, on days of causes, the com- 
pany have waited at his house for five hours in the morning, 
and after eleven he hath come out, inflamed and staring like one 
distracted : and that visage he put on when he animadverted 
on such as he took offence at ; which made him a real terror 
to offenders, whom he also terrified with his terrible ugly face 
and voice, as if the thunder of the Day of Judgment broke over 
their heads. He loved to insult, and was bold without check ; 
and nothing ever made men tremble like his vocal inflictions." 
I will give an instance, hoping it will act as a moral upon my 
readers ; admonishing them, whenever they have power to in- 
flict, they may do it with justice and moderation, not knowing 
what after-events may arise. A cit}^ attorney was petitioned 
against for some abuse, and affidavit was made that when he 
was told of my lord chancellor, " My Lord Chancellor !" said 
he ; "I made him ;" meaning his being a means of bringing 
him early into city business. When this affidavit was read. 



LAW CHaAAOTERS. 59 

" Well," said the lord chancellor, *' then I will lay my maker 
by the heels ;" and with that conceit one of his old, best friends 
went to prison. But this which follows was fatal to him. 
This case was a scrivener at Wapping, brought to hearing for 
relief against a bottomry bond. The contingency of losing all 
being showed, the bill was going to be dismissed ; but one of 
the plaintiff's counsel said that he was a strange fellow, and 
sometimes went to church, sometimes to conventicles, and none 
could tell w^hat to make of him ; and it was thought he was a 
trimmer. At that the chancellor fired ; " And a trimmer !" 
said he ; ''I have heard much of that monster^ but never saw 
one. Come forth, Mr. Trimmer ; turn you round, and let us 
see your shape !" and at that rate talked so loud that the poor 
fellow was ready to drop under him ; but at last the bill was 
ttismissed with costs, and he went his way. In the hall one 
of his friends asked him how he came off. " Came off!" said 
he ; "I am escaped from the terrors of that man's face, which 
I would scarce undergo again to save my life ; and I shall cer- 
tainly have the frightful appearance always present as long as 
I live." 

" He is so ugly, witty, and so thin, 
That he's at once the devil, death, and sin." Young. 

Afterward, when the Prince of Orange came, and all was 
in confusion, this infamous chancellor, being very obnoxious, 
disguised himself, in order to go beyond sea. He was in a sea- 
man's garb, and drinking a pot in a. cellar at Wapping. This 
same scrivener came into this cellar after some of his clients 
anjd his eye caught that frightful face, which made him start. 
The chancellor, seeing himself eyed, feigned a cough, and turn 
ed to the wall ; but Mr. Trimmer went and gave notice that 
he was there ; whereupon the mob flowed in, and he was in 
extreme hazard of his life. The lord mayor rescued him and 
placed him in the Tower for safety, where he died a few days 
after, leaving '* a name never mentioned but with curses and 
jeers," as Byron said of Lord Castlereagh. 

Next we have a picture of Sir John Trevor. He was a 
favourite of Lord Chief Justice Jefferies, and also his country- 
man. It will serve to give a better understanding of this cha- 
racter, to show what sort of man that chief brought forward. 
" He was bred a sort of clerk in old Arthur Trevor's chamber, 
an eminent and worthy professor of the Inner Temple. A 
gentleman that visited Mr. Arthur Trevor, at his going out, 
observed a strange-looking boy in his clerk's seat, (for no per- 
son ever had a worse sort of squint than he had,) and asked 



150 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

who that youth was ? 'A kinsman of mine,' said Trevor, 
' that I have allowed to sit here to learn the knavish part of 
the law.' This John Trevor grew up and took in with the 
gamesters, among whom he was a great proficient ; and, being 
well-grounded in the law, proved a critic in resolving gambling 
cases and doubts, and had the reputation and the authority 
of a judge among them ; and his sentence, for the most part, 
carried the cause. From this exercise he was recommended 
by Jefferies to be of the king's council, and then Master of 
the Rolls ; and, like a true gamester, he fell to the good work 
of supplanting his patron and friend, and would have certainly 
done it if King James's affairs had stood right up much longer ; 
for he was advanced so far with him as to vilify and scold him 
publicly in Whitehall. He was chosen speaker in King James's 
parliament, and served in the same post after the restoration. 
Once upon a scrutiny for bribery in the house of commons, in 
favour of one Cook, a creature of Sir Josiah Childs, Avho ruled 
and regulated the East India Company, it was plainly disco- 
vered that the speaker, Trevor, had iBlOOO ; upon which the 
debate run hard upon him, and he sat six hours as prolocutor 
in an assembly that passed that time with calling him all to 
naught to his face ; and at length he was forced, or yielded, to 
put the question against himself, as in this form : * As many 
as are of opinion that Sir John Trevor is guilty of corrupt 
bribery, by receiving,' &c., &c. ; and, in declaring the sense 
of the house, declared himself guilty. The house rose, and 
he went his way, and came there no more ; but he continued 
in his post of Master of the Rolls, equitable judge of the sub- 
jects' interests and estates, to the great encouragement of pru- 
dent bribery for ever after." 

" And all her trumpets to the land complain, 
That not to be corrupted is the shame !" 

The wags of the days used to say of Trevor, that " Justice 
was blind, but Law only squinted." 

As this is the age of monstrous queer fellows as judges and 
lawyers, I will give one more from the same writer. " The 
Lord Chief Justice Saunders succeeded Pemberton. He was at 
first no better than a poor beggar boy, if not a parish foundling, 
without known parents or relations." He might have said : 



-No mother's care 



Shielded my infant innocence with prayer ; 

No father's guardian hand my youth maintained, 

Called forth my virtues, and from vice restrained." Savage. 

" He found a way to live by obsequiousness, (in Clements Inn, 



LAW CHARACTERS. 61 

as I remember,) and courting the attorneys' clerks for scraps. 
The extraordinary observance and diligence of the boy made 
the society willing to do him good . He appeared very ambitious 
to learn to write, and one of the attorneys got a board knocked 
up at a window, on the top of a stair-case, and that was his 
desk, where he sat and wrote copies after court and other hands 
the clerks gave him. He made himself so expert a writer 
that he took in business, and earned some pence by hackney 
writing ; and thus by degrees he pushed his faculties and fell 
to forms ; and, by books that were lent him, became an exquisite 
entering clerk ; and, by the same course of improvement of him- 
self, a very able counsel, first in special pleading, and then at 
large ; and, after he was called to the bar, had practice in the 
Kings' Bench Court equal wdth any of them. As to his person, 
he was very corpulent and beastly, a mere lamp of morbid flesh. 
He used to say," * by his troggs,' (such a humorous way of 
talking he affected,) ^ none could say ne wanted issue of his body, 
for he had nine in his back.' He was a fetid mass, that offended 
his neighbours at the bar in the sharpest degree. This hateful 
decay of his carcase came upon him by continual sottishness ; 
for, to say nothing of brandy, he was seldom without a pot of 
ale at his nose, or near him. That exercise was all he used ; 
the rest of his life was sitting at his desk or piping at home 
and that home was a tailor's house, and the man's wife was his 
nurse, if nothing worse ; but by virtue of his money, of which 
he made little account, though he got a great deal, he soon be- 
came master of the family ; and, being no changling, he never 
removed, but was true to his friends, and they to him, to the 
last hour of his life. His parts were very lively, full of wit 
and repartee, in an affected rusticity all natural to him. He 
was ever ready, and never at a loss. He was a near match 
for the witty Sergeant Mainard. His great dexterity was 
in the art of special pleading ; and he would lay snares that 
often caught his superiors who were not aware of his traps. 
He was, indeed, so fond of success for his clients, that, rather 
than fail, he would set the whole court hard with a trick, for 
which he sometimes met with a severe reprimand, which he 
would wittily ward off*, so that no one was much offended with 
him. But Lord Hale could not bear his irregularities of life ; 
and for that, and suspicion of his tricks, used to bear hard upon 
him in his court. With all this, he had a goodness of nature 
and disposition in so great a degree that he may be deservedly 
styled a philanthropist. He was a very Silenus to the boys, 
(as in this place I may term the students at law,) to make them 
merry whenever they had a mind to it. He had nothing rigid 
or austere about him. If any near him grumbled at his st**^ ' 

6 



62 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

he ever converted the complaint into content, and laughing 
with the abundance of his wit. As to his ordinary dealings, 
he was as honest as the driven snow was white ; and why not, 
having no regard for money nor desire to be rich ? I have seen 
him for hours and half hours together, before the court sat, 
stand at the bar, with an audience of students over against him 
putting cases, and debating so as suited their capacities ; and 
he encouraged their industry. And so in the Temple : he 
seldom moved without a parcel of youths hanging about him, 
and he merry, and jesting with them. 

" It will be readily conceived that this man was never cut 
out to be a presbyter, or anything that is severe or crabbed. In 
no time did he lean to faction, but did his business without 
offence to any. He put off officious talk of government or 
politics with jests, and so made his wit a catholicon or shield, 
to cover all his weak places and infirmities. When the court 
came into the steady course of using law against all kinds of 
offenders, this man was taken into the king's business, and had 
the part of drawing and perusal of almost all indictments and 
informations that were then to be prosecuted, with the plead- 
ings thereon, if any were to be special ; and he had the settling 
of the large pleadings in the quo warranto against London. 
His lordship (Guildford) had no sort of conversation with him 
but in the way of business and at the bar ; but once, after he 
was in the king's business, he dined with his lordship, and no 
more. And there he showed another qualification he had ac- 
quired, and that was to play jigs upon a harpischord, having 
taught himself with the opportunity of an old virginal of his 
landlady's, but in such a manner (not for' defect, but figure) as 
to see him were a jest. The king, observing him to be of a 
free disposition — loyal, friendly, and without greediness or 
guilt — thought of him to be the chief justice of his bench at 
that nice time, and the ministry could not but approve of it ; so 
great a weight was then at stake, or could not be trusted to men 
of doubtful principles, or such as anything might tempt to desert 
them. While he sat in the King's Bench he gave the rule to 
the general satisfaction of the lawyers. But his course of life 
was so different from what it had been, his business so incessant 
and withal so crabbed, and his diet and exercise changed, that 
the constitution of his body, or head rather, could not sustain 
it, and he fell into an apoplexy and palsy, which numbed all 
his parts, and he never recovered the strength of them."* 

* From Life of Lord Keeper Guildford 



LA.W CHARACTERS. 



LORD BACON, 



"A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength." 

PROVJiKBS XXIV : 6. 

This was one of the men of eminence and talents of this 
period often alluded to and often quoted, particularly his adage, 
" knowledge is power," which might have been suggested to 
him from the Scriptures. But he has been far too highly rated : 
many have alluded to him as an extraordinary man at that 
period, which may be granted ; but, then, if he was great at that 
period, what was that more extraordinary man, his namesake, 
the poor friar born at Ivelchester, in Somersetshire, 1,214 ? 
That wonderful man understood about rising in the air, " the 
steam engine, steam navigation, organ building, and gunpowder, 
which was in use by children ; it was used in the German mines 
in the thirteenth century ; used in the wars of the third cru- 
sade ; and used against the Castle of Thiers."* And, as the 
learned Rabelais has said, " the Almighty put into man's 
head the knowledge of printings to counteract the devil's inven- 
tion of artillery." 

But the following extracts from one of Lord Bacon's works 
show that he had but a poor knowledge of sect affairs. He says : 
" It is a strange thing that in sea voyages^ where there is nothing 
to be seen but sky and sea, men should make diaries ; but in 
land travel, wherein so much is to be observed, for the most 
part they omit it, as if chance were fitter to be registered than 
observations. Let diaries, therefore, be brought in use." How 
short-sighted must he have been when he penned those lines ; 
for, by ships' log-hooks or diaries, quicker voj^ages have been 
made to all parts of the world, they having been the faithful 
registers of the various currents of the winds. Then, with 
respect to the philosophy involved in that paragraph, a lady 
shall answer him. 

«. 
" Ah ! wherefore do the incurious say- 
That this stupendous ocean wide 
No change presents from day to day, 

Save only the alternate tide 1 
Show them its bounteous breast bestows 

On myriads life ; and bid them see. 
In every wave that circling flows, 

Beauty, and use, and harmony — 
Works of the power Supreme, who poured the flood 
Round the green peopled earth, and call'd it good." 

Chaklotte Smith. 

This extraordinary man is thus spoken of in Combe's System 
of Phrenology : " To judge of the line of conduct proper to be 

* Digby. 



64 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

followed in the affairs of life, it is necessary to feel correctly as 
well as to reason deeply ; or rather, it is more necessary to feel 
rightly than to rellect. Hence, if an individual possess very 
reflecting powers, such as Lord Bacon enjoyed, and be deficient 
in conscientiousness, as his lordship seems to have been, he is 
like a fine ship wanting a helm — liable to be carried from her 
course by every wind and current. The reflecting faculties 
give the power of thinking profoundly, but conscientiousness 
and the other sentiments are necessary to furnish correct feeling, 
by which practical conduct may be regulated. Indeed, Lord 
Bacon affords a striking example how poor an endowment 
intellect — even the most transcendent — is, when not accompa- 
nied by upright sentiments. That mind which embraced, in one 
comprehensive grasp, nearly the whole circle of the sciences, 
and pointed out, with a surprising sagacity, the modes in which 
they might best be cultivated — that mind, in short, which 
anticipated the progress of the human understanding by a 
century and a half — possessed so little judgment^ so little of 
sound and practical sense, as to become the accuser, and even 
defamer, of Essex, his early patron and friend ; to pollute the 
seat of justice by corruption and bribery ; and to stoop to the 
basest flattery of a weak king, all for the gratification of a con- 
temptible ambition. Never was delusion more complete. He 
fell into an abyss of degradation from which he never ascended ; 
and to this day the darkness of his moral reputation forms a 
.amentable contrast to the brilliancy of his intellectual fame. 
There was here the most evident defect o^ judgment ; and, with 
such reflecting powers as he possessed, the source of his errors 
could lie only in the sentiments, deficiency in some of which 
prevented him from feeling rightly, and, of course, withheld 
from his understandina; the data from which sound conclusions 
respecting conduct could be drawn." 

^ Bacon's salary, when appointed lord high chancellor, was 
JE540 15s. Oc?., and i6250 for each term ; for attendance in the 
star chamber^ i6300 over and above the said allowance, and 
i660 per annum for twelve tuns of wine. 



JUDGE HALE. 

According to M. Guizott, under Judges Hale, Whitelock, 
Windham, and RoUes, the judicial institutions underwent a total 
revision : they began again to be a protection to the subject 
against the power of the crown. Just and rational principles 
of evidence, sounder views of the object of penal laws, and of 



LAW CHARACTERS. 65 

the proper means of enforcing th^em, first sprang up at the 
beginning of the commonwealth. 

In " The Constitution of Man," by G. Combe, it is stated that 
" it is a melancholy spectacle to find a man like Sir Matthew 
Hale condemning wretches to destruction on evidence which a 
child would now be disposed to laugh at. A belter order of 
things commenced with the chief justiceship of Holt, in conse- 
quence of whose firm charge to the jury on one of these trials 
a verdict of not guilty — almost the first then on record for 
witchcraft — was found. In about ten other trials by Holt from 
1694 to 1701, the result was the same." 

Oliver Cromwell long wished to engage Hale, and give him 
office ; but he at first refused, telling him, as delicately as he 
could, he could not serve a usurper. Cromwell told him 
bluntly, if he could not govern by red gowns, (the English 
judges wear red gowns,) he would by red coats. 

But this learned judge, who is commonly known as the 
^^ pious Judge Hale," introduced a law aphorism, which may 
be disputed, and which has been the cause of much severity of 
punishment, viz., that " the Christian religion is part and 
parcel of the laws of England.''^ 

Major Cartwright, in his inestimable work,* '^ The English 
Constitution produced and illustrated," (1823,) shows "that 
Christianity never was an element of the political constitution 
of England ; and those who have strained hard to make it pass 
for part and parcel of the laws of England, have only attempted 
to propagate a delusion for ill purposes." . In the life of this 
honest politician, by his niece, there is a letter from Thomas 
Jefferson to him, showing that " Christianity being part of the 
constitution arises from a mistranslation. About the year 
1458 Finch quotes the cases, and puts Holy Scriptures for 
ancient writings. ^^ 

Judge Hale left many valuable works and MSS. to the 
society of Lincoln's Inn, with an injunction they never should 
be printed : and, when we consider there was then acensureship 
of the press, (which was a usurpation ; for, according to the 
learned Selden, "there is no law to prevent the printing of any 
book in England — being only a decree in the star chamber,") 
this injunction might be very proper. 

The following rules left by him are worthy the studj'' and 

* This work on the old Anglo-Saxon constitution no law bookseller 
would publish : the author, therefore, having taken a small shop for the sale 
of it in Chancery-lane, it was published and sold there. What a comment 
does this exhibit of the liberty of the press, and of the state of dependence 
of the law booksellers only twenty years past ! 

6* 



66 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

observance of ever}'^ one called to exercise the very important 
office of judge : 

HALE'S RULES. 
" Love righteousness, ye that be judges." — Solomon. 

Sir Matthew Hale, upon his becoming judge, prescribed 
to himself the following rules, which Bishop Burnet copied 
from his holograph : 

Things necessary to he had continually in remembrance. 

1. That, in the administration of justice, I am intrusted for 
God, the king, and my country, and, therefore, 

2. That it be done, first, uprightly ; secondly, deliberately ; 
thirdly, resolutely. 

3. That I rest not on my own understanding and strength, 
but implore and rest upon the direction and strength of God. 

4. That, in the execution of justice, I carefully lay aside my 
own passions, and not give way to them, however provoked. 

5. That I be wholly intent upon the business I am about, 
remitting all other cares and thoughts as miseasonable inter- 
ruptions. 

6. That I suffer not myself to be prepossessed with any judg- 
ment to any till the whole business and both parties be heard. 

7. That I never engage myself at the beginning of any cause, 
but reserve myself unprejudiced till the whole be heard. 

8. That in business capital, though my nature prone me to 
pity, yet to consider, that there is also a pity due to my country. 

9. That I be not too rigid in matters purely conscientious, 
where ail the harm is diversity of judgment. 

10. That I be not biassed with compassion to the poor nor 
favour for the rich, in points of justice. 

1 1 . Not to be solicatous what man will say or think, so long 
as I keep myself exactly according to the rules of justice. 

12. That popular or court applause or distaste have no in- 
fluence in anything I do, in point of distribution of justice. . 

13. If in criminals, it be a measuring cast to incline tos 
mercy and acquittal. 

14. In criminals that consist merely in words, where no 
harm ensues, moderation is no injustice. 

15. In criminals of blood, if the fact be evident, severity is 
justice. 

16. To abhor all private solicitations of what kind soever, 
and by whomsoever, in matters depending. 

17. To charge my servants, first, not to interpose in any 
business whatsoever ; second, not to take more than their . 



ARCHITECTURE. 67 

known fees ; third, not to give any undue precedence to causes ; 
fourth, not to recommend counsel. 

IS. To be short and sparing at meals, that I may be the 
fitter for business. 

The pay of the three judges of the King's Bench in 1613 was 
to each, ^6188 6s. Ad. ; being for his fee, iB154 19s. 8c?., and for 
living, i633 65. 8c?. At this period there was no fixed salary, 
and they were entirely dependant upon the crown. 



ARCHITECTURE. 

" As it is one of the noblest, is likewise one of the most difficult of the 
fine arts." — T. Hope. 

I DO not intend to criticise the style of the English buildings, 
Dut to show what they generally are. There are a few remain- 
ing from the Romans, and no doubt built by them, although 
they have left the country about 1400 years. After the Ro- 
mans, the Saxons were invited. That people were then idola- 
ters, ferocious, ignorant, and bad builders. Kirtlington church, 
Cumberland, is supposed to be one of their best specimens, 
and has had no alteration. The first Saxon churches were in 
the Roman style : no doubt they imitated, as far as they weice 
able, those they saw surrounding them. Brixworth church is 
of Roman bricks,* no doubt part of another building. God- 
win says : " The history of architecture is a relation of gradual 
changes, springing out of each other. The temples of India 
and Mexico carved in solid rocks ; then the ponderous Egyp- 
tian ; then the Grecian, chaste simplicity ; then the gaudy Ro- 
man ; then the beautiful Gothic, or rather Christian, pointed to 

* " The name of brick was not given until about 1430 ; they were previ- 
ously called tiles. Saxon and Norman were generally seventeen and a 
half inches long, eleven and a half inches broad, and two thick. Those for 
pillars were generally nine inches in diameter ; those for floors and roofs, 
twenty-two inches square. The forms and sizes changed about the be- 
ginning of the twelfth century. The Flemish ones were introduced 
about 1320 : these were of various sizes, some being twelve by six, three 
thick ; others ten and a half by five, and two thick : the cost in 1327 was 
65. \d. the thousand. 

" Ahout the year 1490 bricks, intermixed with ornaments of stone, became 
a fashionable manner of buildmg. In 1500 flints were often intermixed with 
brick-work, chequered, as an ornament. 

" From the middle to the end of the sixteenth century the ornaments 
were frequently imitated on burnt clay, to adorn the fronts of houses and 
chimney-shafts." — Architectural Magazine, vol. iii. 



68 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN 

the skies," " fine by degrees, and beautifully less," looking like 
a frame-work of wood, or, as in the unique chapter-house of 
Lincoln Cathedral, resembling a lofty tent. 

The history of the word Gothic, as applied to this style, may 
perhaps be deserving a passing remark. " Gothic is said by 
Torre to have been first applied as a designation by Cassere 
Cesirino, the translator of Vitruvius, in his commentary 1521." 
Sir Henry Wotton, who wrote his work on architecture in 1624, 
used it, probably deriving the term from this erroneous source. 
Sir John Evelyn, a voluminous and various writer, who suc- 
ceeded him, continued it ; and then Wren seems to have finally 
settled its improper application. Now, although these were 
all " honourable men in their generation," yet, according to Mr. 
Hope, they were living in error. He traces this style to have 
been the work of the Free-masons, which order began in Lom- 
bardy. The Emperor Maximillian, the first German emperor 
who held drunkenness in abhorrence, gave them a diploma in 
the year 1298. (They spread all over Christendom, but Henry 
VI. broke them up in England in 1424.)* 

Mr. Hope farther says : " This body of men were the authors 
of what has long been erroneously, and quite as foolishly, call- 
ed Gothic architecture, but which historical evidence and good 
sense now calls Christian." As one of its distinguished cha- 
racteristics is pointed^ it does not admit of cupolas, but spires. 

He informs us that the early English and French Christians 
left off" building some time before the year 1000, supposing that 
period would end the world. " The circular, or Norman, or 
Lombardic style," (a door-way of which may be seen, peiliaps 
the finest in the world, at Malmesbury, buil-t 675,) " attained 
its highest ornament about 1140: after this period began the 
pointed. William of Wykeham rather flattened the arch, and 
made an alteration in the windows, since called perpendicular 
or panelled, about 1440 : after this period the windows became 
more florid or ramified ; and in France was made another 
alteration, equally as beautiful, called fiafnboyant. There are 
but few specimens called perpendicular, either in France or 
Germany, and nothing like Henry VII. Chapel, except in small 
details ; nor is there any of that more gorgeous of the Tudor 
style, supposed to have originated with Cardinal Wolsey."! § 

The peculiarities of this style are the graceful pointed, united 

* This talented body of men do not seem to have ever had anything to 
do with the present Free-masons ; neither did they produce anything in 
architecture, nor leave anything in their archieves, to show rhey were ever 
connected with them. Both Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren were 
grand masters ; and it is fair to presume that, if anything had been left rela- 
tive to their matchless art, these men would have availed themselves of it. 
t Hope. § Pugin. 



ARCHITECTURE. 6§ 

with arabesque ornaments in the Florentine taste, with gro- 
tesque corbels, gargoyles, and a redundance of quaint devices 
and heraldric enrichments of every kind. 

The learned Grotius said of Hampton Court, when in perfec- 
tion, ^' other palaces are residences of the kings, but this is of 
the gods." 

Heutzner speaks of it with astonishment in the reign of 
Elizabeth. 

"Here ancient art her doedal fancies play'd, 
In the quaint mazes of the crisped roof; 
In mellowing looms the speaking panes array'd, 
And ranged the cluster'd columns massy proof." 

Wharton. 

After the Tudor style came the Elizabethan, which is a 
mixed style, and of which there are so many elegant specimens 
now remaining ; and which are so proper (as, indeed, all the 
varieties of this style are) for that dripping atmosphere.* 

Inigo Jones, born 1572, began the revival of the Palladian or 
classical style. Under James I. he built the banqueting house, 
Whitehall ; and he has left behind him the designs for a palace 
on that spot, which, if he had completed, would have been the 
most magnificent in Europe. It was to have been in extent, on 
the east and west sides, 874 feet, and on the north and south, 
1152 feet, the interior being distributed into seven courts. But 
the great number of splendid buildings from his designs still 
remaining, sufficiently express his powers and his skill. Mr. 
Hope has justly observed, that '-'• skill in mechanics is a faculty 
wholly distinct from taste in the fine arts." But Inigo Jones 
was not deficient in either requisites. Walpole, in his " Anec- 
dotes of painting," says : " If a table of fame were to be formed 
of real and indisputable genius in every country, England would 
save herself from the disgrace of not having her representative 
among them. She adopted Holbein and Vandyke, and she bor- 
rowed Rubens. She produced Inigo Jones ; Vitruvius drew up 
his grammar; Palladio showed him the practice; Rome dis- 
played a theatre worthy of his emulation ; and King Charles was 
ready to encourage, employ, and reward his talents. This 
is the history of Inigo Jones as a genius." A small cluster 
of other architects of no mean pretension might be added. 

The next in importance is Wren, born 1632, who came forth 
in the most auspicious time to build his fame, and to raise the 
metropolis, like another phcenix, from its ashes. His chief work, 
St. Paul's Cathedral, is said to be " the glory of England," 

* The first English work on architecture, I believe, was by John Shute,. 
entitled '• The first and chief grounds of Architecture." He was a painter, 
stainei, and architect, and died 1563. 



70 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

(and, except in size, is said to rival successfully St. Peter's at 
Koine.) '' Here aiciiiteclure, like an apparition, rises from the 
tomb of antiquity." — Goethe. He removed the ruins of a 
former Cliristian temple, which stood upon the foundations of 
a Pagan one. 



-Meditation here 



May think down hours to moments. Here the heart 

May give a useful lesson to the head, 

And, learning, wiser grow without her books." 

He was the builder of some fifty other churches ; the Monu- 
menl, Temple-bar, and several grand and splendid mansions. 

It is much to be regretted that he was prevented from carrying 
out his design, after the great fire of 1666, of improving the city. 
His plan was, to have only three grades of streets — the widest 
to have been ninety feet, next grade sixty feet, and none less 
than thirty ; but this necessary and judicious arrangement was 
prevented by circumstances over which he had no control. 

It is remarkable that in so large an undertaking as the building 
of St. Paul's Cathedral, which lasted full forty years. Wren 
should have lived to see it completed. He had a salary of ^200 
per annum while it was in progress. 

I think proper here to relate two anecdotes strongly and 
vividly showing the persecuting spirit and rudeness of manners 
of the times at the extremities of this period, and which I 
fondly hope is now on the decline, never to be revived. I 
should by no means be satisfied that any good would arise from 
the penning of these pages, if they did not teach a moral to my 
readers, by showing them the errors of an overbearing sectarian 
feeling, and thus to soften the asperities of life ; for " by marking 
our fathers' errors we are wise." 

" The spacious Drapers' Hall, Throgmorton-street, is built 
upon the ruins of a palace erected by Thomas Cromwell, Earl 
of Essex. It formerly belonged to the priory of St. Augustines ; 
but, not being large enough to gratify the lordly ambition of this 
terrible man, he, in an arbitrary manner, without the consent 
of either landlords or tenants, caused several fences to be 
removed back twenty-two feet, and added that space to his 
ground, and enclosed it with a brick wall. Among the sufferers 
was the father of Stowe, the " honest chronicler ;" his whole 
house was raised upon rollers and set back without his consent, 
and he never could get any redress, so great was the power 
and influence of this proud oppressor. Cromwell's mansion 
being forfeited to the crown by his attainder and execution, it 
was purchased by the Draper's Company."— T. H. Sheppard. 

The other anecdote is as follows : " Up to the time of 1734 



ARCHITECTURE. TI 

the Lord Mayor of London had no fixed place of residence.* 
At that time was living that splendid patron of architecture, the 
Earl of Burlington : as soon as he heard of the intention of the 
corporation, he made them an offer of a design gratis, by the 
celebrated Palladio ; when it was known it was by that artist, 
he being a Catholic, it was indignantly rejected ; and the present 
Mansion House, the first stone of which was laid 1739, was 
by a ship carpenter of the name of Dance. "'f 

It is supposed that at the beginning of the eighteenth century 
there were not more than twenty-five professors of architectuie 
in Great Britain. 

In the year 1748 Horace Walpole built Strawberry Hill in 
the Christian style, assisted by Mr. Richard Bentley, which is 
supposed to have been the cause of its revival, and being very 
generally adopted for all sorts of buildings. 

My subject, to be more fully developed to my readers, must 
necessarily be divided, but which a few pages, 1 hope, will 
sufficiently illustrate. 



CASTLES. 



'■ Fate sits on those dark battlements and frowns ; 
And as the portal opens to receive, 
Her voice in sullen echoes through the coarts 
Tells of nameless deeds !" 

I SHALL begin first with the warlike castle. The historian of 
the " two houses of parliament " states, " the architects of the 
olden time, called ' the dark ages,' studied at once stability, 
grandeur, and beauty in their sacred and regal edifices." 
There are many specimens of Roman forts scattered up and 
down where they had their military stations ; and there are 
also some few of the Saxon era ; the history sind contemplation 
of which are " well calculated to strike out the dimple from the 
cheek of mirth." But Mr. Pugin says, " The Norman princes 
and nobles of the eleventh and twelfth centuries delighted 
exceedingly in building." Their frugality in diet and ambition 
in dwelling in stately castles are recorded as very different from 
the taste of the Anglo-Saxons. Almost every eminent church 
was built within this period, and a prodigious number of castles. 
Gundolph, Bishop of Rochester, was a great castle builder ; 

* During the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, Sir John Langham, who 
was lord mayor for a part of the time, lived at Crosby Hall. He was the 
last person who occupied that fine old building as a dwelling. 

t Illustration of public buildings of London. 



73, THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

many were improved from his skilful designs. He died in 1 108. 
The styles of these buildings are distinguished by strong and 
ponderous dimensions, round arches, and various mouldings. 
The walls of the Tower of London at the podium or base are 
twenty-seven feet thick, graduating to fifteen feet. Those of 
Bishop Gundolph's are none less than twelve feet. 

After the crusades (the last was not till the middle ages) the 
castles were more crenellated and macchiolated ; and then was 
introduced one or more port-cullis at the entrance gate-way, 
and also the Moorish style, which will assimulate with the 
Gothic or Christian. "The principles of which," according to 
Coleridge, " are infinity made imaginable." Alas ! some of 
them are well described by the descriptive Byron in Mazeppa : 

" There is not of that castle's gates, 
Its draw-bridge, and port-cullis wight, 
Stone, bar, moat, bridge, or barrier left ; 
Nor of its fields a blade of grass, 
Save what grows o'er a ridge of wall, 
Where stood the hearth-stone of the hall." 

But there are some perfect, such as the Royal Windsor, the 
Ducal Alnwick, the peer-creating Arundel,* the Baronial War- 
wick, all of which have been so often described as to be 
familiar to the minds of most intelligent readers. I will describe 
the princely Raby, to show its vastness ; and Nawarth now, 
just as it was years past ; which will exhibit the manners and 
customs of the age. They are both in the northern part of 
England, and were of great importance formerly as strpng-holdgs 
against the Scotch, when that country was an independent 
kingdom, during the everlasting feuds consequent thereon. 

Raby Castle was the seat of the Duke of Cleveland, the last of 
whom ( who has been dead but a few months) was so great a fox- 
hunter, according to " Nimrod's Sporting Tour," as " never to 
have been aw^ay from his hounds above three days during each 
season, except attending his dutj'' as a parliamentary peer, for 
thirty-six years." The chief entrance is on the west : a very 
grand hall leads to a spacious court, and in that a great hall 
supported by six pillars. 

*♦ Here hung trophies of the fight or chase ; 
A target here, a bugle there, 
A battle-axe, a hunting-spear, 
And broad-swords, bows and arrows store, 
With the tusked trophies of the boar." Scott. 

* Any one being the lawful owner of this castle, is, by the tenure, Earl of 
Arundel, and, consequently, a parliamentary peer. It is the only one which 
possesses this privilege. Its present owner is the Duke of Norfolk. 



m. 

ARCHITECTURE. 73 

A stair-case leads into an upper hall ninety feet long, thirty-six 
feet broad, and thirty-four feet high. Here assembled, in the 
time of the powerful Nevilles, seven hundred knights, vs^ho held 
lands of the family. The walls are nine feet thick. Of late 
years there have been made many recesses ; one holds a bed, 
scooped out of the walls. The oven is higher than a tall 
person ; the diameter is fifteen feet. In former days baked 
meats were the usual food, so that many a noble baron, or a 
fat sirloin, and fatter rump, could be cooked one over the 
other at one operation. But now this is turned into a wine- 
cellar ; the sides divided into ten parts, each holding a hogshead 
of wine in bottles. The kitchen is a lofty square, with three 
chimneys — one for the grates, second for stoves, the third for 
the great cauldron : the top is arched, a small cupola or louvre 
light for the centre ; on the sides are five windows ; a gallery 
all around, four steps down another stair-case, to the great hall. 
It originally belonged to the Bishop of Durham. This castle 
was built in the Saxon era, nine hundred years ago. 

Nawarth Castle, one of the seats of the Earl of Carlisle. 
" The dwelling-rooms are accessible by sixteen stair-cases in 
the turrets. The hall is 25 yards long, 9 J yards broad, and of 
great height ; a minstrel or music gallery at one end. The top 
and upper end of the room is painted on panels in 107 squares, 
representing Saxon kings and heroes. The chimney is 51 yards 
wide. Within this is another old apartment, hung with tapestry : 
all remains just as it was when occupied by Lord William 
Howard, the owner, in the days of Elizabeth and James. His 
library is a small room, in a verj' secret place, high up in one 
of the towers, well secured by doors and a narrow stair-case : 
not a book has been added. In this room is a vast case, three 
feet high, which opens into three leaves, having six great pages 
pasted therein, being an account of St. Joseph of Arimathea 
and his twelve disciples, who founded the Abbey of Glaston- 
bury ; and at the end a long history of saints, with the number 
of days or years for which each could grant indulgences. He 
was a Catholic ; but, owing to the horrid laws, he dare not then 
openly avow his sentiments. The roof is coarsely carved. 
The windows are high up, and are to be ascended by three steps, 
lest any one inside should be reached by some arrow or shot 
outside ; such was the needful caution of those times. 

It is said Lord William was very studious and wrote much. 
Once, when thus employed, a servant came to tell him that 
a prisoner was just then brought in, and desired to know what 
should be done with him. Lord William, vexed at being thus 
disturbed, answered hastily, ' Hang him.' When he had finish- 
ed his study, he ordered the man to be brought before him for 

7 



74 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

examination •, but he found that his order had been too literahy 
obeyed. He was a severe, but very useful, man at that time 
in that lawless country. Close by the hbrary is an ancient 
oratory, richly ornamented with coats of arms and carvings, 
painted and gilt. This castle was built about 1398."* 

ON AN OLD DISMANTLED HALL.t 

" The ivy crawls on thy ruined walls, 
And thy turrets with age are dim ; 
And the bat and the owl about thee prowl 
. In the moonbeam's mystic gleam. 

The lone wind sweeps through thy crumbling steeps 

In the midnight vigils drear, 
And each hollow squall seems to laugh at thy fall, 

And to tell thee thy end is near. 

The ravens perch on thy belfried church, 

And they all, as though they hate, 
Feast their demon eyes, 'neath the clouded skies, 

On thy sad and mouldering state. 

Thus art thou now ; but not so, I trow, 

Hast thou been in the times before ; 
For thou'st taken thy stand with the best in the land, 

In the good old days of yore. 

Thy barons bold, in their reign of old. 

And thy titled ladies fair. 
Have hunted the doe with quiver and bow, 

And driven her from her lair. 

Thy ancient dames, with their high-born names, 

Have — all seated in rigid form. 
With needle in hand — work'd embroidery grand, 

Thy fine Gothic rooms to adorn. 

The boar's head staunch and the venison haunch 

Have oft smoked on thy plenteous board, 
And been wash'd down, the huge feast for a crown, 

With the wine-cellar's luscious hoard. 

Thy banquet-hall hath oft rang with the call 

Of the huntsman's jovial toast. 
As with courteous sign they've quaffed their wine 

To the health of the lordly host. 

But thy day is o'er, and, alas ! no more 

Shall thy faded brightness be told ; 
For done is the chase, and ended life's race, 

With the band of huntsmen bold. 

* Pennant's Tour. 

t This beautiful piece of poetry was given to me by a friend, m MS, 
When I inquired who was the author, he replied, " Non mi ricordoy 



ARCHITECTURE. 75 

The baron sleeps in the chancel deep, 

'Midst thy churchyard's ancient graves, 
And thy dames are dead, and ihy grandeur fled, 

And there's naught can thy ruin save. 

Thou art now but a sign of the bygone time, 

Giving food for the poet's lays, 
That the tale naay be told of thy annals old, 

And the glories of better days." 

I will now avail myself of the graphic description of an early 
baronial mansion, by the pen of the Rev. Mr. Whittaker : not 
many of these remain entire. 

" The palace of the feudal victor 
Now serves for naught but for a picture." 

" The Lords' Mansion was constructed of wood, on a strong 
foundation of stone ; it was of one ground story, and composed 
of a large oblong square court. A considerable portion of it 
was taken up by the apartments of such as were retained more 
immediately in the service of the seigneur ; and the rest, which 
was more particularly his own habitation, consisted of one great, 
and several little rooms. In the great one was his armory — 
the weapons of his fathers, the gifts of his friends, and the spoils 
of his enemies ; all being disposed along the side-walls." Such 
was the first style of building. 

Great Chalfield Manor House, Wiltshire, the seat of Sir H. 
B. Neale, Bart., will exhibit the next change. This old English 
Aula has a moat, a turreted wall, a church, a grange, (a farm 
establishment,) a mill, fish-ponds, a plesaunce, and an orchard. 
Inside, a noble hall, an oak screen elaborately carved, a min- 
strel gallery, with bay or oriel windows. It stands near to 
the parish church, in which there is a complete set of parish 
registers from 1545 — only nine years from the period they were 
ordered to be kept. Of this description of habitation I will 
give the dates of some of the many now remaining, to show 
the strength and the durability of the materials, and the work- 
manship. Winwaloe, Norfolk, is the oldest mansion, built of 
stone some time in the eleventh century. Penshurst, Kent, 
1320. Tattershall, Lincolnshire, 1455. Oxburgh, Norfolk, 
1484. Hengrave, Suffolk, 1538. Thornbury, Gloucestershire, 
1540. Longleat, Wiltshire, 1567. Charlcote, Warwickshire, 
(immortalized by Shakspeare,) 1567. Kingston, Wiltshire, 
1570. App. ix. 

In the fourteenth century ornamental carpentry had arrived 

at great perfection. The intermixture of wood, stone, and 

plaster flourished at the beginning of the fifteenth and sixteenth 

'^nturies. The stair-cases of former times were usually cylin- 



76 IJIE SOCIAL HISTORl OF GREA'l J^RlTArN. 

drical, and formed in the turrets : the gallery was brought into 
use, and the massive hand-rail and broad stair, balustrades and 
enriched ornaments, with the Elizabethan architecture. 

Between 1580 and 1601 there was built Montacute House, 
in Somersetshire, a noble building in the shape of the Roman 
letter pn, in honour of Queen Elizabeth. The owner was Sir 
Edward Phillips, and he was her sergeant-at-arms. It cost 
iB.20,000. It is ninet}^ feet high and one hundred and eighty- 
nine feet long : there is a gallery from end to end, either for 
music, dancing, or pictures, with a noble oriel window at each 
end. The chimney-shafts represent columns of the Doric order. 
There are niches, with statues, ornamented gables, balustrades, 
pinnacles, and an enriched cornice. 



HOSPITALITY. 

But above all, and which is of far more consequence than all 
the rest, and which proclaims as loud as though it came from 
the cannon's mouth — the easy state of society of that period; for 
over the gate-way there is the following general invitation : 

" Under this wide-opening gate no one comes too early, and none stay too late." 

That was a proof of English hospitality ! That was a sample 
of merry England ! 

There was a noble manor house built at Charlton, in Kent, 
by Sir Adam Newton, who was tuto.r to Prince Henry, eldest 
son of James 1. Here was kept old English hospitality. 
Brayley, editor of the " Graphic Illustrator," thus speaks of its 
decline : " The decay of English hospitality is to be attributed 
to the long-continued pressure of the national expenditure upon 
the middle ranks of society, rather than to the refinements of 
the age ; the wherewithal has been extracted from the domes- 
tic hearth, whether for purposes of good or evil, and the glow 
of every social and generous feeling chilled into a repulsive 
selfishness, by the craving w^ants of the immediate homestead." 
In plain words, taxation has driven it away. Let us see how 
this hospitality commenced. It commenced with the Christian 
religion, and, through the monasteries, it became nationalized. 

-Of seats we tell, where priests mid tapers dim, 



Breath'd the warm prayer or tuned the midnight hymn ; 
To scenes like these the fainting soul retired, 
Revenge and anger in these cells expired ; 
By pity sooth'd, remorse lost half her fears, 
And soften'd pride drop'd penitential tears." 



HOSPITALITY. 77 

An abbey was tbe highest rank in the monastic system. It 
often occupied a space of ground of from fifty to ninety acres, 
walled in. The Abbot of Glastonbury once received, on a visit, 
two hundred knights and their retainers. The stables of Bury 
St. Edmunds could accommodate three hundred horses. It 
included all the appendages of as large a domain as is attached 
to great Chalfield manor house. The refectory was ninety- 
eight feet long by thirty-four feet wide. There was an 
almonry, chapter-house, locutory or parlour, infirmary, scrip- 
torium, kitchen, and other domestic offices ; and, consequently, 
a regular set of officers. 1. Majister Operis^ master of the 
fabric ; he attended to the repairs and embellishments. 2. 
Elemosynarij^ the almoner, who distributed the alms. 3. 
Pitantiarius^ the person who distributed the pittances or extra- 
ordinary allowances of the provisions. 4. Sacrista^ the sexton, 
who took care of the vessels, books, and vestments, and 
attended to the burying of the dead. 5. CamerariuSj the 
chamberlain, who had the care of the dormitory, razors, towels, 
bedding, &c. 6. The Cellararius^ or the cellarer, who procured 
provisions for the convent. These were the six principal lay 
officers ; but there were also Thesaurius, or treasurer or burser ; 
Precentor^ the chanter ; the Hostilarius^ who attended to the 
entertainment of the guests ; the Injirmararius ^ who had the 
care of the sick ; the Refectionarius looked after the hall ; the 
Coquinarius looked after the kitchen ; the GardenanuSy the 
gardener ; and Portarius^ the porter : such were the attendants 
on one of these establishments. And, according to Bishop 
Tanner, " these monasteries were, in effect, great hospitals, 
and most of them were obliged to relieve many poor people 
every day. They were likewise houses of entertainment for 
almost all travellers. Even the nobility and gentry, when 
they were upon the road, lodged at one religious house, and 
dined at another, and seldom or never went to inns." 

Oh ! what misery among the poor people, and what hideous 
deformity to the appearance of all classes, has the destruction 
of these noble buildings created. It would be supposed that the 
talented Park Benjamin sat, in solitary, musing in one of these 
ruins when he penned the following highly descriptive lines : 

" I look around and feel the awe 
Of one who walks alone, 
Among the wrecks of former days 
In dismal ruin strown. 

I start to hear the stirring sound 
From the leaves of wither'd trees, 
. For the voice of the departed 

Seems borne upon the breeze." 
7* 



78 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

In former days every clergyman's house was open for three 
days to any one travelling or in ^distress ; but as soon as the 
clergy were allowed to marry, this charitable custom was 
destroyed. 

There were also many hermitages. Chapel House, in Ox- 
fordshire, now a great posting house, was one. There is one 
at Chapel Plesters, in Wiltshire, on a hill, for assistance of 
travellers. 

"A hermit that dwelt in those solitudes cross'd me, 
As, wayworn and faint, up the mountain I press'd, 
The aged man paused on his staff to accost me. 

And proffer'd his cell as his mansion of rest." Bishop. 

At Henley, in Arden, Warwickshire, according to Dugdale, 
" there was a hospital and gild, for the relief of poor people 
and strangers, in the time of Henry VI. Before the dissolution 
of this gild it was a custom, that, upon all public occasions, 
(as weddings, and the like,) the inhabitants of this town kept 
their feasts in the gild-house, in which they had most kinds 
of household stuff, as pewter, brass, spits, andirons, linen, 
tables, &c. ; and wood, out of the little Park of Beldesert, for 
fuel : those who were at the charge of the feast paying only 
6s. 8d. for the use of them. But now all is gone, except the 
pewter, which, being in the chapel warden's custody, they lend 
out for four pence a dozen when any feast is made."* Such 
was English hospitality. 

The following extract, from " The Life of Bishop Ridley," 
by his nephew, will show^ the other side of the picture : " The 
dissolution of the monasteries had turned many thousands adrift ; 
some of these, however unworthy, were presented, by the new 
lay patrons, to benefices, in order to save the pensions reserved 
for them, which filled the cures with ignorant, idle, vicious 
men." He also states that " it raised the rents from forty 
pounds to a hundred pounds per annum ; was the cause of break- 
ing up small farmers, and also joined farms together ; conse- 
quently many houses went to decay. Gentlemen neglected the 
country, and did not keep up the usual hospitality ; numbers 
were driven to seek other employment, and shift for themselves." 

Such was the beginning of the decline of this amiable, this 
national characteristic, which was known, and remarked upon, 
all over the world. The Italians have a saying, (if they see 
a busy man,) 

"Ha piu di fare che i forni di Natali in Ingel-terra." 
(He has moie business than English ovens at Christmas.) 

* Antiquities of Warwickshire. 



HOSPITALITY. 79 

And such also is the beginning of its present great criminality ; 
for where there is misery, criminality is sure to follow. While 
those pious institutions were in being, the great mass of the 
people were well taken care of, both mentally, bodily, and re- 
ligiously. " Libraries were also formed in all the monasteries, 
and schools founded in and near the cathedrals, for teaching 
the literature of the times."* Well might Dr. Dunham say, 
" These places well deserve the reverence of mankind, for 
they afforded, at some periods, a scene of refuge to religion and 
learning." 

Since their destruction the people have become poverty- 
stricken, ignorant, and brutish ; and many once-beautiful places, 
scattered all over the country, are made hideous and unsightly. 
About three years past the writer visited the coal and lead 
mines at Holy Well, in Flintshire ; and also the celebrated St. 
Winifred's WelLf About a mile down a pretty little valley 
are the ruins of Basingwerk Abbey. It may be said 

" To sit in naked solitude on the edge of the whispering wave." 

It is close by the side of the River Dee. It was founded by 
an Earl of Chester, 1131, and had a small establishment ; but 
its aquatic situation brought forcibly to his mind the follow- 
ing two verses : 

" Hark, the vespers hymn is stealing 

O'er the waters soft and clear, 
Nearer yet, and nearer pealing, 

Now it bursts upon the ear ; 
Farther now, and farther stealing, 

Soft it fades upon the ear. 

Now like moonlight beams retreating. 

To the shore it dies along, 
Now like angry surges beating. 

Breaks the mingled tide of song ; 
Hark again, the waves retreating. 

To the shore it dies along !" 

To those who may wish to know more about this, the most 
interesting portion of English history, I would say, read Cob- 
bett's " History of the Reformation," Doyle's Edition, N. Y. 

* Poiteus. 

t This well is constantly throwing up eighty-four hogsheads a minute, which 
never freezes ; and turns eleven large factories, all within a distance of one 
mile and two hundred and thirty-four yards. 



80 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



HOME TRAVELLING. 

** Soon shall thy arm, unconquer'd steam, afar 
Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car, 
Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear 
The %ing chariot through the fields of air." 

Darwin, 1793. 

This quotation contains a prophesy. At the time it was 
written, steam was only in its infancy ; but it presents an ad- 
mirable contrast to the state of travelling at the beginning of the 
seventeenth century, two centuries before the lines apply. To 
state the case in a concise manner, as it has been stated,* " iw 
our domestic traffic pack-horses have given way to wagons, 
wagons to canals, and canals to railroads.''^ But I apprehend 
my readers would not be satisfied, without I stated how these 
gradations came about ; and this I propose doing in this chapter. 

A Lancashire gentleman now can have his own carriage, con- 
taining himself and family inside, and some of his domestics 
out, put upon a railroad-car, his own horses, which drew him 
down to the station, put into safe boxes on another car, and he 
will be set down in London (a distance of two hundred miles) 
in twelve hours. 

Now, let us see what was done in 1603. Queen Elizabeth 
died at three o'clock on the morning of Thursday, 24th March. 
Sir Robert Carey| stole away from Richmond Palace, and 
arrived in Edinborough, with the news to King James, in the 
course of the following Saturday night. The distance from 
Richmond to London is nine miles ; from London to Edinborough, 
383 miles. This is the present distance : it may be within 
bounds to assume that the distance at that time was 400 miles. 
He performed this distance on single horses, say in sixty hours ; 
and, taking into consideration the then state of the roads, he 
would be pronounced a good horseman. Horses at that time 
were the only means of communication, whether for a single 
individual or a load of goods. J The state of the roads were 

* Gentlemen's Magazine, 1838. 

t " With, I suppose, bottelles of wine strapped to his saddele, and pastyes 
of salmonde, troutes,andeyleswrapted iu toweles." — Frois^ar/, by Berners. 

t In 1713 Bristol (then the second port in the kingdom) had no carts; 
but the traffic was all moved about the city on sledges, winter and summer. 

The following extract is from Dr. Bannatyne's scrap-book, as given in Dr. 
Clelf^nd's statistical account of Glasgow : 

" The public have now been so long familiar to stage-coaches, that they 
•'•e led to think they have always existed. It is, however, even in Eng- 
land, of comparatively late date. 

" The late Mr. Andrew Thompson, sen., told me that he and the late Mr. 
John Glassfond went to London (from Glasgow) in the year 1739, and 



HOME TRAVELLING. 3 I 

not only very narrow, but nowhere graded, except a fe roads^ 
left by the Romans. 

The government couriers were the letter-carriers 'I'here is 
now in preservation a letter from Mr. Bagg, (dated 1623,) 
deputy mayor of Plymouth, to Sir Edward Conway, Strand, 
London, with all its endorsements on it at the various posts 
during the distance, which is 211 or 214 miles : it took the 
courier fifty-seven hours. In 1825 the Defiance coach used 
regularly to travel the same distance in twenty-seven hours. 

These government couriers were under martial law ; and if it 
was found they anywhere lingered, they were liable to be hang' 
edj as a warning to the next. 



PILLION RIDING. 

" This riding double was no crime 
In the first great Edward's time, 
No brave man thought himself disgraced 
By two fair arms about his waist ; 
Nor did the lady blush vermilion 
Sitting on the lover's pillion. 
Why 1 because all modes and actions 
Bowed not then to vulgar fractions, 
Nor were tested all resources 
By the power lo purchase horses." 

Queen Elizabeth often used to ride, on .state occa^-ionSjOn 
a pillion, behind the lord chancellor or lord chamberlain. 



COACHES. 



It is said to have been Henry Fitzallan, lord steward of her 
household, who introduced coaches.* It is well known she had 
William Boonen, a Dutchman, for her first coachman, in 1564. 

As the nobility at this period lived mostly by the side of the 

made the journey on horseback. Then there was no turnpike-road till they 
came to Grantham, within 110 miles of London. Up to that poin-t they tra- 
velled on a narrow causeway, with an unmade soft road upon each side of 
it. They met, from time to time, strings of pack-horses, from thirty to forty 
in a gang, the mode by which goods seemed to be transported from one 
part of the country to another. The leading horse of the gang carried a 
bell, to give warning to travellers coming in an opposite direction , and he 
said, when they met these trains of horses, with their packs across their 
backs, the causeway not affording room, they were obliged to make way for 
them, and plunge into the side-road, out of which they sometimes found it 
difficult to get back again upon the causeway." 

* Saxony, Naples, Italy, France, and Spain had coaches before England. 



82 



THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



Thames, they used to move about in their own splendid barges 
until they began to have coaches, which at first were driven 
(though so clumsy) with two horses ; but the profligate Buck- 
ingham flourished away with six, and sometimes eight 

In 1605 coaches were partially usedb}^ the nobility and gentry 
In 1625 Captain Bailey, an old sea officer, first set up coaches 
to ply for hire ; hence they obtained the name hackney-coaches 




Hacknev-coach, 1625.* 

He began with only four. The customary station was at the 
sign of the May-pole, in the Strand. His drivers had splendid 
liveries. 

In 1628 Charles granted a special commission to the Marquis 
of Hamilton, his master of the horse, to license fifty for London 
agad Westminster, with liberty to each to keep twelve good 




Coach, time of Charles II, 



horses for each coach, but no more for that business. This 
'will give a good idea of the state of the streets and the roads ; 

* This engraving represents the rider on the contrary horse to that tna 
postillions now mount. 



HOME TRAVELLING. 



83 



for, if they had been in good condition, one-third that number 
"would have been sufficient. 

In 1673 stage-coaches were introduced. It then cost forty 
shilUngs in summer, and forty-five in winter, to go from London 
to Exeter, Chester, or York, (distance to Exeter, 172 miles ; 
to Chester, 181 miles ; to York, 197 miles,) and a shilling to 
each coachman : in summer the journey took up four days, 
and in winter six days. 

Stage-coaches were introduced into Scotland in 1678. The 
principal roads in the north of Scotland were mere track-ways 
till 1732. 



SEDAN CHAIRS. 

In 1626 Sir Saunders Duncombe introduced sedan chairs ; 
certainly, for fashionable visiting, in full dress or high state, for 
either male or female, (for both sexes used them,) they were 
unique. They were carried by Irishmen. A lady could walk 
into one of them (they are now in use at Bath, Brighton, and 
in London, though smaller, and glazed, and even more elegant 
than the one given below) as it stood in her own hall or 




Sfdan Chairs, 1634. 



passage. " A guarded lackey to run before it, and pied liveries 
to come trashing after," with a link, if at night. Take you to 
your place of visit, and, if needful, into the very room where the 
party were assembled, and there set you down just in the same 



84 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

state, in defiance of all weather, as when you left your dressing- 
room ; and fetch you away again in the same manner. One 
could be engaged for the week for twenty- one shillings, or one 
shilling an hour. If that is not a luxurious sort of locomotion, 
I know not what is. 



POST-CHAISES. 

In 1734 John Tull introduced post-chaises. This is a light 
travelling four-wheeled carriage, for two persons, which inn- 
keepers provide as well as horses. 

" Comfort must not be expected by folks that go a pleasuring." 

Lord Byron wrote this line when he first went travelling into 
Spain, 1809 ; although he says the roads were good. Let us 
see what they were in the south of England in 1703. In that 
year Prince George of Denmark and suite had to travel from 
Windsor, in Berkshire, to Petworth, in Sussex, a journey of 
only forty miles, which took seventeen hours : frequently his 
carriages stuck fast in the mire, and some of them were over- 
turned ; and the carriage in which was the prince would have 
experienced the same fate, had not the country people propped 
and poised it frequently from Godalming, in Surrey, nearly to 
Petworth. The last nine miles occupied six hours. 

But overturns and broken limbs were not the only or w^orst 
evils to be met with in such a migration ; for all the great 
approaches to the capital, particularly Bagshot Heath, Houns- 
low Heath, Popham-lane, and Shooters Hill, (in Kent, six or 
seven miles only from London,) were infested with foot-pads 
or mounted highwaymen so late as 1739, either singly or in 
small bodies ; and the daily prints contained accounts of 
robberies committed upon the travellers or the mails, and 
sanguinary encounters with robbers were frequent. 

" The style in which Sir Francis Wronghead and his famity 
travelled, however laughable, (bating a little stage extrava- 
gance,) was not unusual with persons of his rank. Two strong 
cart-horses were added to the four geldings which drew the 
ponderous family carriage, with an array of trunks and boxes ; 
whileseven living souls, besides a lap-dog, were stowed within. 
The danger of famine was averted by a travelling larder of 
baskets of plum cakes, Dutch ginger-bread, Cheshire cheese, 
Naples biscuit, neats tongues, and cold boiled beef. The risk 
of sickness provided against by bottles of usquebaugh, black 
cherry brandy, cinnamon water, sack, tent, or strong beer ; 
while the convoy was protected by a Turkish cimeter^ a 



HOME TRAVELLING. 85 

a polished, brass-barrelled, bell-mouthed blunderbuss, a bag of 
bullets, and a great horn of powder."* 

I give the following horrible account of travelling in Scotland, 
from the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. ii., new series, 1834. It 
is an extract from the " Diary of a lover of literature," dated 
July 3d, 1807. The writer is a Mr. Green. " Dined at the 

White Horse : Mr. related the following extraordinary 

adventure, which came, he said, from two friends," (the editor 
of the magazine, in a note, says that no reasonable doubt of its 
truth can be entertained,) " which happened half a century ago : 
* Going from Berwick to Edinborough, a stormy night compell- 
ed them to put up at a solitary inn some miles short of where 
they intended to stop. The looks of the people were fero- 
cious, and their manners suspicious and uncouth. They were 
unaccountably impressed, from its strange aspect and peculiar 
taste, that the meat-pie, which was the only thing they could 
procure for supper, was composed of human flesh. As the 
evening continued tempestuous, they ordered beds ; (they were 
apprehensive of precipitating their danger by an immediate 
departure.) Several circumstances heightened their suspicion, 
and the hideous sight, through a crevice of their apartment, of 
a woman sharpening a long case-knife in an adjoining room, 
increased their alarm. They contrived to make their escape, 
leaving their horses and baggage ; and, quitting the high-road, 
endeavoured to make their way across the country, to the next 
town. They had not advanced far before they found they 
were pursued by a blood-hound ; but, by fording a river, they 
evaded the pursuit, and reached their intended destination. 
The story which they told increased the suspicions of the 
people of the town ; many travellers, they said, had been 
strangely disposed of, and nothing ever heard of them. A 
search warrant was granted, the people of the house were 
secured, and on different parts of the premises the plunder of 
many passengers were found and the bodies disco veref^.'' 



TURNPIKE-ROADS. 

In 1663 the first act of parliament was passed for levymg 
tolls on turnpike-roads. The first turnpike act for Scotland 
was passed in 1750. 

In 1819 there was a regular turnpike-road, and the mail 
travelled it from London to John O'Groat's house, a distance of 
eight hundred miles. 

It was only about this period (1750) that the internal com- 
* Vanbrugh's Journey to London. 
8 



86^ THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

merce of the country was carried on in wagons ; of which some 
were very large, y/ith wheels from three to four feet wide, which 
were called rollers, (they did not pay toll,) and drawn by eight 
or more large horses. 

When Pennant visited Scotland, he went on horseback. 
There were no coaches north of the city of York in 1770. 

I will now give some statistics of English road travelling, 
from John McNeil, the engineer of the Holyhead road, 1831. 
He says, " The weight of a four horse English stage-coach 
varies from 15| cwt. to 18 cwt., (of 1121bs. to the hundred ;) 
they carry from 2 tuns 5 cwt., to 2^ tuns, coach included ; tire 
of the wheel about two inches. The old mail-coaches weighed 
20 cwt., or one tun. The mail-coaches since 1836 weigh only 
17 cwt. ; they sometimes carry a tun of letters and parcels : the 
tire is 21 inches. The vans, a carriage for light parcels,*;? 
without passengers, average 4^ tuns, carriage included : they 
travel six miles per hour. The present eight horse wagon 
and its load, four tuns, with nine inch wheels ; six horse wagon 
SL^a Its load, 3^ tuns, the wheels six inches ; four horse wagon 
and its load, three tuns, the tire four inches. Farm wagons of 
Northamptonshire, 21 cwt., wheels three inches ; carry from 
one to three tuns : they last about twenty years. The wear 
and tear of a mail or stage coach is supposed to consume about 
lOlbs. of iron every one hundred miles, from the tire, springs, 
horse-shoes, and traces. The tire lasts only from two to three 
months : coach-horses are shod every thirty days ; wagon- 
horses every five weeks." 

A great difference in the wear and tear of the wheels on 
railroads has been observed. A first class carriage, its weight 
3| tuns, has run 25,000 miles, and has only lost 7|lbs. from 
the tire ; although it has a drag, which is occasionally used. 

The mail-coaches were only introduced into Ireland in 1787. 
The journey from Dublin to Cork lasted from five to six days, 
often performed with one set of horses. 

In the year 1838 a coach proprietor in London, named 
Chaplin, had thirteen hundred horses at work, five principal 
coach-yards, and two hotels. 

If my opinion may be considered worth anything, I should 
say the American system of coach building is the best. I offer 
no opinion about the workmanship or durability, having had no 
experience ; but in this part of the Union, where wood is cheap 
and iron dear, they use more iron. In England, where wood is 
dear and iron cheap, they use more wood ; consequently, the 
American carriages have a lighter appearance. As the roads in 
England are for the most part better than here, the American sys- 
tem would seem better for that country, and the English for this. 



HOME TRAVELLING. 87 

CANALS. 

The Romans made the River Witbam navigable from the 
city of Lincoln to the sea. In 1139 Turlough O'Comier had a 
canal dug from Balinasloe, on the River Suck, to Tuam, in 
Ireland. John Trew, a Welch engineer, made the River Exe 
navigable, with locks and sluices, 1563, from Exeter to the sea. 
The River Wey was made navigable, from Godalming to the 
Thames, by Sir Richard Weston, 1690. The Aire and Calder 
Canal, Yorkshire, began in 169*9. The River Avon, from Bath 
to Bristol, was opened 1727. But the Sankey Canal was begun 
1760, at the sole expense of the Duke of Bridge water : Brindley 
was his engineer, who is justly called the father of inland 
navigation. 

The great Caledonian Canal, which makes a continued line 
of inland communication from east to west across Scotland, 
through three lakes, was suggested in 1713, but not commenced 
till about 1800. 

There are now in Great Britain ISO canals : their whole 
extent is 2682 miles ; they pass through forty-eight tunnels 
under ground, whose joint length is thirty-two miles. The 
grand cost was thirty million pouncas. 

The English canals are not wider than forty feet, and from 
six to ten feet deep. The boats average about fourteen tuns, 
and tracked by only one horse, and travel from four to five 
miles per hour. 



RAILROADS. 

"The steam engine is the master-piece of human skill, and the most 
valuable present that was ever made by philosophy to ihe arts." — Dr. Black. 

The first railroads were in the northern coal districts, about 
1676 : the wagons were drawn by one horse, taking as many as 
he could move slowly — weight perhaps forty tuns. A few years 
after, they began to use iron wheels ; but it was about 100 years 
from the commencement before they began to plate the rails 
with iron. Such is the infancy of railroads. Trevethick, who 
died 1833, was the father of locomotives in 1805. There was 
one act of parliament for regulating a northern railroad in 175S, 
but no more till 1801, from which period we may begin to date 
railroad travelling. 

The Liverpool and Manchester railroad carried at the rate 
of 1070 persons per day, without one stoppage, and only one 
loss of life, the first eighteen months after it was opened, 1830. 



88 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

" Bees have been noticed not only to keep up with a steam 
engine train, at the rate of twenty-five miles per hour, but to 
fly round and about it. A linnet was observed to have a dif- 
ficulty in keeping up this pace." — Silliman^s Journal. 

In the year 1826 Mr. Cobbett, in his " Rural Rides," gives 
the following information : " I got a little out of my road in or 
near a place called Tangley. 1 rode up to the door of a cottage 
and asked the woman, who had two children, and who seemed 
to be about thirty years old, which was the way to Ludgarshall, 
which I knew could not be more than four miles off: she said 
she did not know ; a very neat, smart, and pretty woman ; but 
she did not know the way to this rotten-borough. * Well, my 
dear good woman,' said I, ' but you have been at Ludgarshall P 

* No !' '• Nor at Andover .^' (six miles another way.) ' No !' 

* Nor at Marlborough.^' (nine miles another way.) ^ No !' 

* Pray, were 3^ou born in this house .?' ' Yes.' *- And how far 
have you ever been from this house V ' Oh ! I have been up 
in the parish, and over to Chute.' That is to say, the utmost 
extent of her voyages had been about two and a half miles. 
Let no one laugh at her, and above all others, let not me, who 
am convinced that the facilities which now exist of moving 
human bodies from place to place are among the curses of the 
country, the destroyers of industry, of morals, and of course 
of happiness. It is a great error to suppose that people are 
rendered stupid by remaining always in the same place. This 
was a very acute woman, and as well behaved as need be." 
Such were the remarks of that close observer and excellent 
WTiter in 1826. What he would say now, when there are so 
many railroads, may be readily guessed. 

Receipts on the English railroads in 1842 were, for passen- 
gers, (26,000,000,) ^£3,624,318 ; for goods, iBl, 172,717. 



BRIDGES, VIADUCTS, AQUEDUCTS, AND TUNNELS. 

" The Catholic religion has covered the world with its monuments." 

Chateaubriand. 

The oldest stone bridge in England was at Bow, near Lon- 
don, built in the time of Henry I., 1110 to 1118, from funds 
furnished by his pious wife. It had three arches, and a chapel 
at one end ; was only 131 feet wide ; was widened to 21 feet, 
1741. Within these two years it has all been taken down, and 
a sjranite one, of one arch, built in its place. In King John's 
reign (1200) the toll-keeper received for every cart load of 
corn, one penny ; for every load of teazles, two pennies, (this 
shows there was woollen cloth manufactured ;) but for every 



HOME TRAVELLING. 89 

dead Jew, eight pence. There was only one graveyard in all 
England, in former times, where the Jews were permitted to 
be buried, and that was outside the walls of the city of London. 

The most curious stone bridge is the one for foot-passengers, 
in the shape of a triangle, where two little streams join, at 
Crowland : it leads into three counties. This was built by the 
monks of Crowland Abbey, near to which it is situated, and 
is now a master-piece of ingenuity : time not known, but the 
abbey was built 860. 

During the reign of the Stuarts there was only one bridge 
across the Thames at London. 

The longest bridge of stone in England, until lately, was built 
by Bernard, the Abbot of Burton, upon Trent, in the twelfth 
century. It has thirty -four arches, and is 1545 feet long. 

During that century there was a religious society called 
Pontificers, founded by St. Benezet. These holy brothers weref' 
enjoined to erect bridges, assist travellers, regulate ferries, 
repair and erect bridges on the public roads : they erected a 
chapel at one end, where they received tolls and other chari- 
table bequests for such useful purposes. 

The largest one arch stone bridge is at Chester. It is 200 
feet span, but very lately finished. 

But the longest bridge, reckoning water and land arches, is 
the Strand Bridge, in London. It has nine water arches, which 
extend 1380 feet, of granite ; this, added to many brick arches 
on each side, makes the whole bridge 2456 feet, and all per- 
fectly level. The width of the river is 1326 feet. 

During the last century iron has been extensively brought 
into use for bridges. The first application was a chain bridge, 
for foot-passengers, 70 feet long and 2 feet broad, across a very 
beautiful ravine of the Tees, in the north of England. But 
the first cast iron bridge for general purposes was put across 
the Severn, at Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, 1779, of 100 feet 
span. The first chain pier was put up at Brighton, 1823, which 
led the w^ay for the chain bridge across the Menai Strait, in 
Wales. The whole length is 850 feet : there are four arches 
on the western side and three on the eastern, of 50 feet each, 
leaving 560 feet over the strait for the passage of vessels. 
There are two carriage-ways at top, twelve feet each, and a 
foot-way of four feet, for passengers. It is all of iron : was 
commenced by Telford in 1818, and cost £70,000. 

There was put up at Londonderry, in Ireland, a very fine 
wooden bridge by Samuel Cox, of Boston, Massachusetts. It 
is 1068 feet long, 40 feet broad, with a drawbridge attached : 
the tide rises from 8 to 10 feet ; the depth of river at low water 
is 31 feet. It does the engineer great credit. Opened 1790. 



90 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

But, since the introduction of railroads, new principles of art 
have been obliged to be adopted. The railroad will in no case 
admit of an acute angle ; and the other roads over or under;:i 
which the railroad has to pass, (an abrupt turn,) are nearly as 
objectionable ; so that hence has been obliged to be built, where 
the tvt^o roads run nearly parallel, as is often the case, a skue 
bridge ; otherwise " the traveller must have obliquely waddled 
to his end in view." The first so constructed was over the 
Liverpool and Manchester road, 1834 ; but there are now many, 
built of all sorts of materials and of various contorted shapes. 

The railroad has also created a necessity for viaducts. One 
has lately been erected across the River Mersey, at Stockport, 
perhaps the most surprising one in the world. It is composed 
of 26 arches ; twenty-two of them 63 feet span, and the other 
four of 20 feet each : the length is 1786 feet ; height from the 
water. 111 feet, (which is 6 feet higher than the Menai chain 
bridge.) There were used 11,000,000 of bricks and 40,000 
cubic feet of stone : it cost iB70,000 ; was finished in twenty-one 
months ; and only settled half an inch. (By Bucke, engineer.)* 

As the railroads required viaducts, so do canals require aque- 
ducts. Out of several very extraordinary ones, I will give 
some particulars of two. 

The one over the River Lune, near Lancaster, has five arches, 
each of 70 feet span, for barges of about 60 tuns burden : height 
from the surface of the river to the surface of the canal is 51 
feet. 

But the one which excites the most surprise and the most 
admiration, is the one in Wales, called Pont-y Cyssyltan, across 
the River Dee — a rapid river, second only, in beauty, to the 
picturesque Wye. " The waters every whit as clear and whole- 
some as if they darted from the breast of a marble nymph or 
the urn of a river god."! 

" Where silver rivulets play through every mead, 
And woodbines give their sweetness, limes their shade." 

Young. 

The scenery of these two vales, which has called forth the 
genius of various talented men, is thus beautifully poetized by 
Mason . 

•' True poetry the painter's power displays, 
True painting emulates the poet's lays; 
The rival sisters, fond of equal fame, 
Alternate change their office and their name." 

* The Victoria viaduct, (since the above in the north of England,) in height 
And span, is the largest in Europe. It is 270 yards long ; width, within 
parapet walls, 21 feet ; and height from the water, 157 feet. 

t Cowley. 



HOME TRAVELLING. 



91 



This stupendous work of art is 1000 feet long. There is a 
cast iron trough, suppor Led in the air on eighteen stone pillars, 
x21 feet above low water. The dimensions of the.se pillars, at 
the level of high water, are, 20 feet by 12 feet, and grading 
gradually to 13 feet by 7^ feet ; the upper fifty feet they are 
hollow ; the outer walls two feet in thickness. The cast iron 




Iron Aqueduct of Pont-t Ctsbyltan. 

trough, to convey the water and the boats, is apparently but 
seven feet two inches wide ; but, as the water goes under the 
horse-track, it is virtually eleven feet ten inches : the towing 
path is four feet eight inches wide. It was by Telford, and 
opened in 1805. 

As railroads and canals must have a surface nearly level, 
viaducts and aqueducts are the most ready means by which 
they sweep the valleys. But as valleys are formed by moun- 
tains, and the level must still be continued, the mountains 
must be perforated ; hence arises the necessity of tunnels, a few 
of which I will describe, although they are all modern, none 
having been excavated before the time of Brindley. 

The longest of those for canals is at Blisworth, in Northamp- 
tonshire : it is nearly four miles. 

At Kilsby, in the same county, there is one for the railroad, 
with a double carriage-track, 2423 yards long. 

There are two connected with the railroad in the important 
port of Liverpool, from the docks by the river-side, clear under 
the town : the longest runs a distance of 2200 yards, (is twenty- 
two feet wide and sixteen feet high,) up an inclined plane, 
about half an inch per yard in the rise. 

In 1798 Dodd, an engineer, projected one under the Thames, at 
Gravesend, 22 miles below London. In 1804 Chapman project- 
ed one at Rotherhithe ; and in 1807 Vezie commenced the 
construction. Its diameter was eleven feet, at a distance of 315 
feet from the river's bank. With Vezie was associated Treve- 
thick, a man of great practical knowledge as a miner. In 1808 
the water broke in upon them, and what was done was irre- 
coverably lost. In 1823 Brunei began (which may now be 
said to be complete) the present one, which broke in, in 1828 ; 
and, the company's funds being exhausted, it was abandoned 



92 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

until a treasury loan was obtained in 1835. It was passed 
through August 17th, 1841. And the King of Prussia, who 
came to England to be sponsor to the young Prince of Wales in 
1842, was prevailed upon to lay the last brick. It consists of 
two arches thirty-two feet high and thirty-eight feet broad, 
all brick-work (laid in cement) about four feet thick; a shaft 
on each side of the river, fifty -five feet deep and forty-two feet 
in diameter, down which people pass by a spiral stair. It is 
about a quarter of a mile long. 

But, to make it fully available for carriages and cattle, there 
must be tunnel approaches, inclined upward till they meet with 
open daylight. 

The rules of travelling; the roads and walking the streets 
have thus been poetized, and are, therefore, easily recalled to 
the memory : 

" The rules of the road are a paradox quite 
In driving or riding along ; 
If you keep to the left you are sure to be right, 
If you keep to the right, you go wrong.* 

But in walking the street it's a different case ; 

To the right it is right you should veer ; 
To the left must be left a convenient space 

For those viho are meeting you there." 



INNS. 

" To take mine ease in mine inn." — Shakspeare. 

Harrison says, (1580,) " Those townes that we call thorou- 
faires, have great and sumptions innes builded in them, for the 
receiving of such travellers and strangers as passes to and fro. 
The manner of harbouring wherein is not like to that of some 
other countries, in which the host or good man dooth chalenge 
a lordlie authority over his ghestes, but clean otherwise sith 
every man may use his inne as his owne house in England, and 
have for monie how great or little verietie of vittels, and what 
other service himselfe shall thinke expedient to call for. Our 
innes are also very well furnished with naperie, bedding, and 
tapisserie ; for, besides the linen used at the tables, which is 

* During the last European wars those *' gentlemen of England who 
lived at home at ease," established four-in-hand clubs, in which extraor- 
dinary skill in the art of driving was brought to great perfection. Sir John 
Lade, Bart., for a wager of considerable amount, drove his carriage and four 
norses twenty-two times in rapid succession through a gate only wide 
enough to admit the carriage through, and scarcely allowing the four horses 
space to turn round. 



HOME TRAVELLING. 



^ 



commonlie dailie washed, is such and so much as belongeth 
unto the estate and calling of the gheste. Ech commer is sure 
to lie in cleane sheets, wherein no man hath beene lodged since 
they came from the landresse. If the traveller have an horsse, 
his bed dooth cost him nothing ; but if he go on foot, he is sure 
to paie a penie for the same : but whether he be horsseman or 
footman, if his chamber be once appointed, he may carie the 
kaie with him as of his own house, so long as he lodgeth there. 
If he loose aught whileth he abideth at the inne, the hoste is 
bound by a general custome to restore the damage, so that there 
is no greater securitie aniewhere for travellers than in the 
gretest innes of England." He then notices some depredations 
which travellers are liable to on the road, and then tells us : 
'' In all innes we have plentie of ale, biere, and sundrie wines ; 
and such is the capacitie of some of them, that they are able 
to lodge two or three hundred persons and their horsses at ease. 
As soon as a passenger comes to an inne, servants run to him, 
and one takes his horsse, and walkes him till he be cool, then 
rubs him down, and gives him meate ; another servant gives 
the passenger his private chamber, and kindles his fire ; the 
third pulls off his boots and makes them cleane ; then the hoste 
or hostess visit him, and if he will eate with the hoste, or at a 
common table, his meal will coste him six pence, or in some 
places four pence ; but if he will eate in his chamber, he com- 
mands what meate he will, according to his appetite; yea, the 
kitchen is open to him to order the meat to be dressed as he 
likethbest. After having eaten what he pleases, he may, with 
credit, set by a part for the next dale's breakfast. His bill will 
then be written for him, and, should he object to any charge, 
the hoste is ready to alter it."* 

They had splendid signs ; and the inns in the County of War- 
wick, on their days of fairs, had their doors well dressed with 
the foliage of trees. 

Izaak Walton, the ano;ler, thus alludes to an ale-house on 
the River Lea, contiguous to the village of Hoddesdon, in 
Hertfordshire : 

^' The honest ale-house, where we shall find a cleanly room, 
lavender in the windows, twenty ballads stuck about the wall, 
and a hostess both cleanly, handsome, and civil." 

But in London foreign travellers at that period noticed the 
taverns as dens of filth, tobacco smoke, roaring songs, and 
roysters ; yet women of rank allowed themselves to be enter- 
tained in such places, and actually tolerated those freedoms 
from their admirers, which are described with such startling 
plainness in our old plays. | 
* Moryson's Itinerary, 1617. f Character of England in Somers' Tracts. 



94 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

The sign of the White Hart is heraldric of Richard 11. ; 
of the White Swan, of Henry IV. ; of the Blue Boar, of 
Richard HI. 

There was a difference in the signs and decorations of houses 
of entertainment in the Catholic times. Some years since I 
passed by a house called the Four Crosses, built of squared oak, 
framed and filled in with brick, bearing the date 1636, on which 
was the following inscription : " Fleres si scires uimm tua 
tempora mensem ; rides cum non scis^ si sit forsilcm una dies.'''''* 

The Shipwrights' Arms, by Tom Owen, a sporting tapster, 
at Northfleet, in Kent, has the following maxims : 

" Meet friendly ^ My liquors are good. 

Drink moderately., My mea,siires are just. 

Pay honestly y Pay to-day. 

And part quietly. To-morrow Pll trust. 

Life''s hut a journey ; live well on the road.''^ 

But the following beautiful lines, which are the out-pourings 
of a warm and inspired soul, should be the maxim. Dum 
vivimus vivamus. 

* ' Live while you live,' the epicure would say, 
. ' And seize the pleasures of the present day.' 
' Live while you live,' the sacred preacher cries, 
* And give to God each moment as it flies.' 
Lord, in my views, let both united be, 
I live in pleasure while I live to thee." Dr. Doddridge. 



GARDENING. 

»' God the first garden made — the first city, Cain." — Cowper. 

To do justice to this interesting subject, when agriculture is 
added to it, would occupy a volume ; but I will endeavour to 
condense, in a few pages, a few^ particulars. 

During the middle ages St. Fiacre "was considered the patron 
of gardeners, and that festival was duly honoured. 

The monks were always great gardeners ; their riches, their 
taste, their learning, their leisure, their frugality all conspired to 
this object. The learned naturalist and Protestant clergyman, 

* *' You would weep if you knew that the period of your life was limited 
to a month, yet you laugh when you do not know whether it may endure 
for a day." This excellent old house, now in fine preservation, stands at 
Ivetsey-bank, in Cheshire. Long may it stand with that excellent inscription, 
to admonish the thoughtless topers who frequent it. 



GARDENING. 95 

Gilbert White, who wrote his " History of Selborne " in 1789, 
thus quotes from Dalryniple's Annals of Scotland : " In the 
monasteries the lamp of knowledge continued to burn, however 
dimly. In them the men of business were formed for the state. 
The art of writing was cultivated by the monks. They were the 
only proficients in mechanics, in gardening, and in architecture." 

On the little Island of lona, among a cluster of others on the 
western coast of Scotland, was a garden in the sixth century. 
The venerable Bede, the '* Doomsday book," and William of 
Malmesbery, mention vineyards supposed to have been intro- 
duced by the Romans in the third century. 

The apple was considered a symbol of love ; and we read 
'' from Pierius that one was in the hand of the statue of 
Venus."* As the word apple is the same in the Cornish, 
Welch, and Irish languages, it is supposed to be indigenous. 
During the last days of Turketul, Abbot of Crowland, who died 
about Anno. 870, he used to encourage the schoolboys of his 
monastery with apples, nuts, figs, and raisins. 

Gardens in " the olden time " were laid out somewhat in the 
following manner : The pleasure-grounds consisted of terraces 
and walks upon them, a bosquet, a bowling green, which, in 
consequence of that dripping atmosphere, was always '' the 
envy and admiration of the world ;" a labyrinth, a small wood, 
a shady walk of nut or filbert trees, oftentimes a shady avenue 
of box or clipped yew, and rarely ever without ponds or foun- 
tains, cascades, and statues. 

The learned Wharton says : " An herberie, for furnishing 
^omestic medicines, always made a part of our domestic 
gardens." 

Many of these gardens, which had been little more than 
courts with trim walks, ornamented with shrubs and flowers, 
are beautifully described in a stanza in Gray's Elegy. 

" Here scattered oft the earliest of the year — 

By hands unseen are showers of violets found ; 
The red-breast loves to build and warble here, 
And little footsteps lightly print the ground." 

Gardens began, during the reign of Elizabeth, to be enlivened 
by the introduction of foreign plants and flowers. They were 
introduced from Holland and the Netherlands, who, being a 
commercial people, first introduced them from both the Indies 
and the Levant. Great improvements now became gradually 

* Detur 'puichrion, (let it be aiven to the most beautiful.) This inscrip- 
tion, arcorcin.CT HS the tale is told, was put upon the apple, the adjudication 
of which !o the jroddess Venus, bv Paris, excited the resentment of Juno 
and Muierva." — Brown's Vulvar Errors, 



96 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

extended. Hartlib, who wrote various works on this science, 
1650, states that some old men recollected the first gardener 
who came into Surrey to plant cabbages, cauliflowers, and 
sow ripe peas, turnips, carrots, and parsnips ; '' all which were 
great wonders, we having had few or none in England but 
what came green from Holland or the Netherlands." Twenty 
years before, he tells us, so near London as Gravesend (22 
miles) there was not a mess of peas but what came from 
London ; but now they are abundant. But he adds, " I could 
instance divers other places in the north and west of England, 
where the name of gardening and hoeing is scarcely known." 
By the middle of the century liquorice, saffron, cherries, 
apples, pears, hops, and cabbages were cultivated in suffi- 
cient abundance to render importation unnecessary. The pro- 
gress was rendered slow, by the want of nurseries, of apples, 
pears, cherries, vines, and chestnuts. Persons who lived at a 
distant part of the country, and wished to introduce new 
varieties of fruit into their gardens, were, says Hartlib, " often 
compelled to send nearly 100 miles for them." Tobacco would 
soon have been regularly cultivated, had it not been checked 
by the excise laws, as a source of revenue. Cromwell, who 
wisely encouraged these rural arts, allowed him a pension, (he 
was a Pole by birth,) which was stopped at the restoration, 
and he died in poverty. App. x. 

To give an idea of the slowness with which this ne- 
cessary art progressed, I will instance the potatoe. Hum- 
boldt says its real country is not known. Admiral Hawkins 
brought them from Santa Fee in 1565, and planted them in 
Ireland, (before Raleigh. ) White, in his history of Selborne, 
tell us, " Twenty years ago (meaning 1769) the poor would 
not taste them, and the growth of them were promoted by 
premium. 

Evelyn, on gardening, says : " Farmers who did not provide 
plenty of peas, greens, and beans for their servants, were dis- 
pised for their parsimony. 

For a long period gardening was completely mixed up with 
the knowledge, or rather the nonsense, of astrology Tusser 
thus advises : 

*' Sow peas and beans in the wane of the moon — 
Who soweth them sooner, he soweth too soon — 
That they with the planet may rest and may rise, 
And flourish with bearing most j)]entiful wise." 

Gasper de Gabrielli, a Tuscan nobleman, had a private botanic 
garden in 1525. There was a public one (perhaps the first in 
Europe) at Padua in 1545. 

The ornamenting of gardens and pleasure-grounds with 



GARDENING. 97 

statues and urns was revived about the beginning of the six- 
teenth century, by the Cardinal D'Este. Garden buildings, 
such as alcoves, summer-houses, and grottoes, were introduced 
b}"- Inigo Jones into England. 

There was an orangery of glass at Wollerton Hall, Notting- 
hamshire, in 1696, supposed to have been the first in England.* 

Now begin farther changes, more interesting from the great 
varieties of new plants, and more tasteful in their arrangement 
and we may now say, in the language of Dyer, 

" Thus in nature's vesture wrought, 
To instruct our wandering thought ; 
Thus she dresses green and gay, 
To disperse our cares away." 

The primitive English gardens were laid out in geometric 
forms ; various trees were cut into fantastic shapes, which were 
dignified with the name of vegetable sculpture ; numerous trees 
represented animals. There was also, if the house or castle 
was not moated round, a canal in the garden, cut straight ; and, 
as this was artificial, it soon became offensive by being stagnant 
It is supposed that Christopher Wren, chaplain to Charles I., 
father of the architect, was the originator of serpentine waters, 
or letting water take its natural shape from the usual inequality 
of the ground. In all these changes, which would take several 
chapters to detail, it may be shortly said, that " Lord Bacon 
was the prophet, Milton the herald. Pope the practiser, and^ 
Addison and Kent the champions of true taste ;" which is 
simply by letting the foliage take its natural shape, and intro- 
ducing trees or shrubs to contrast in shape and colour, which 
forms what is now so appropriate and picturesque an appear- 
ance in modern pleasure-grounds, wherein may be gathered 

" Sweet-briers, hawthorns, lilies, violets, roses — 
What a nice bouquet for all sorts of noses." 

Gerarde published his " Herbal " in 1597. He had a garden 
in Holborne, now a densely peopled part of London. The first 
English botanic garden was at Syon House, the seat of the 
Duke of Northumberland, managed by Dr. Turner, who died 
1568. There was also established a public botanic garden at 
the University of Oxford in 1 632.1 

In Charles II. 's reign Sir Arthur Rawdon sent a ship ex- 
pressly from Ireland to the West Indies, which returned freight- 
ed with five plants : he then had a hot-house built at Moira to 
contain them. 

* Loudon. t Ibid. 

9 



93 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

Daines Barrington, a learned antiquarian, conjectures the 
first hot-house, and also the first ice-house, was built for 
Charles II. 

The great tulip mania, by which a moderate fortune was 
squandered for a flower, was in its height in Holland about 
1634.* From 1730 to 1740 it declined in England. Since 
that time no one has been called upon to condole with a friend, 
who was 

" Quite ruin'd and bankrupt, reduced to a farthing, 
By making too much of a very small garden." 

On no subject has science triumphed so majestically over 
nature as in gardening. There is at this time scarcely a beauti- 
ful plant, tree, shrub, flower, or fruit but what can be found in 
great perfection in some part of Great Britain, either in hot- 
houses or the open air. The winters for the most part being 
mild, those calculated for the open air seldom suffer ; while 
those requiring heat, which can be cheaply obtained, and re- 
gulated by day and by night to any required temperature, 
flourish in the highest perfection. Hence it may, in truth, be 
said, that the hot-houses in England beat all the world, both for 
fruit and foliage. The catalogue of plants now cultivated 
number 120,000. 

As gardening is so interesting, particularly to females — and 
as it may be carried on, more or less, by every person who has 
a residence — perhaps the following hints and anecdotes may be 
sufficient to induce fathers of families to allow this general 
taste to be indulged, even in cities. 

How pleasant must it be to exhibit to a curious friend the 
plant daphne, (thymalacee,) which has flowers before leaves, 
thus alluded to by Cowper : 

" Though leafless, well attired and thick beset 
With blushing wreathes investing every spray." 

The best specimen known is the mezereon. The French call 
it the genteel wood ; the Italians, the fair plant ; the Germans, 
the silky bark ; the Spaniards, the lady laurel. 

How agreeable must it be to have a few plants of the myc- 
tanthus jasminse, which gives its odour only at night, placed 
in the hail or on the stair-case, thus alluded to by Moore * 

" The timid jasmine herbs that keep 
Their odour to themselves all day ; 
But, when the sunlight dies away, 
Let the delicious fragrance out 
To every breeze that roams about." 

* The Dutch brought the tulip from China. 



GARDENING. F» 

The sweet-brier is a delightful, odoriferous shrub, which gives 
out a delicious fragrance in cool, shady places ; and in this 
country would be delighted with occasional ablutions from the 
watering-pot — and then the following lines may be appropriate 
to it: 

TO THE SWEET-BRIER. 

Whence breathes such fragrance through the ambient airl 
Whence do such balmy scented zephyrs rise] 

I look around, and see no blossoms near, 
Wafiing their incense to the azure skies. 

There blows, 'tis true, some gaudy flow'rets, dress'd 

In robes of crimson and of golden hue ; 
Though fair their form and variegated vest, 

The inod'rous plants but charm awhile the view. 

But see that thorny shrub of verdant leaves, 
Without a flower to increase its lovely bloom ; 

It smiply thrives, and every gale receives. 
As light it brushes o'er the rich perfume. 

Thus genius and beauty live in peace unseen, 

And brighter shine the more their diffidence ; 
While arroorance, with proud and stately mien, 

Allures the vain, but is disdained by sense. 

Growing flowers in pots is of great antiquity, but was revived 
and brought into notice in France during the reign of that 
splendid monarch, Louis XIV. 

Where the enthusiasm is as strong as that manifested by a 
Miss Kent, who has a garden at the top of a flat-roofed house, 
within a few yards of St. Paul's churchyard, London ; or by 
a medical gentleman named Ward,* in London, who places his 
pots and glass cases on every vacant place he can find about his 
dwelling, and who turned his bed-room into a green-tiouse — 
wonders may be produce under the most forbidden circumstances 
and localities. 

* This gentleman (N. B. Ward. F.L S.) has written a work ''On the 
growth of plants in closeiy glazed cases," a work as interesting to science as 
to the lovers of plants. He has his glass cases made to fit every vacant 
nook, place, or corner, and form : his largest case is 24 feet long, 1 2 ieet 
wide, and 11 feet high. 

There is unfortunately one important drawback against this system : there 
is no way to enjoy the frawrance ; one of the senses remain ungratified. It 
is of no use to invoke the wind thus : 

" Softly rise, O southern breeze, 

And kindly fan the blooming trees ; 
Upon my spicy garden blow, 
That sweets from etery part may flow." 



100 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

Lio-ht, although of great importance in the economy of plants, 
is not found to be of so much importance as was once expected. 
The highly-flavoured, edible mushroon requires but little, and 
may be produced all the year round in warm cellars. Hum- 
boldt drew up marine plants, perfectly green, from thirty-two 
fathoms deep in the ocean ; and he found grasses perfectly green 
in the subterranean mines of Friedberg, in Germany, where he 
planted a crocus ; it flourished, and had green leaves and pollen. 

In 1836 Lockhart and Co., London, had a narcissus which 
flourished downward, contrary to the opinion of Sir Humphrey 
Davy. 

Soapsuds nourish flowers : a slip of pansey has been known 
to grow in some. The excellent and highly-cultivated florist 
and horticulturist, Mrs. Loudon, says : " Hyacinths should be 
watered with hot water ; and that the seeds of the New Holland 
accasia will not vegetate till they have been boiled."* 

Marine fuciae, (sea weed,) of which there are great varieties, 
and the laver and samphire, which are excellent sauces to venison 
or mutton, (and some make good pickles,) may be grown, in any 
water-tight tank, any distance from the sea, in common brine. | 

As to how long the vegetable principle will remain in 
seeds, that, to its full extent, may never be known ; for there 
is now growing (a lily) a bulbous-rooted plant taken from the 
hands of a mummy from the city of Thebes ; and also wheat 
from another mummy ; so that it is not impossible that some 
families in England are now eating the same bread that fed 
Pharoah's army. 

As there is so much commercial enterprize, and the Ame- 
rican captains and mates are men of so much general intel- 
ligence, and this extensive Union being under all latitudes, 
perhaps the following plan of packing plants may be interesting, 
and induce them to ornament their country, or oblige their 
friends with useful or beautiful specimens from every country 
to which they may sail, and thus confer great national benefits 
to generations yet unborn ; for " it is both amusing and instruc- 
tive to walk through a garden of foreign plants." — Goethe. 

Take up the living plants with as much moist soil still clinging 
to the roots as you can ; pack them in a stout and perfectly air- 
tight box, with as much moist mould at bottom of the box as will 
keep the roots from shifting about ; then cover one side of the 

* One of Mrs London's worksj "The Ladies Companion to the Flower 
Garden," I am informed, is about being republished by Wiley and Putnam. 

t Mr. Rench, of Parsons' Green, who died in 1783, aged one hundred years, 
introduced the beautiful moss rose from Holland. 

Earl Powis has naturalized the mangoe in England, and the apple in the 
East Indies. 



AGRICULTURE. 101 

box with an air-tight glazed frame. Plants so confined have 
been delivered to several curators of public gardens in England, 
from Sydney, Australasia, after an eight months' voyage, and 
have all flourished. 

The flower of the cactus tribe need only be cut off; the 
seeds will perfect themselves on the passage, there being 
moisture enough for this necessary purpose. 

In 1717 the apothecaries' garden, at Chelsea, had a glass roof 
to keep out the cold air, adopted by Swetzer , but no heating 
apparatus. 

There is seven miles of garden, for culinary purposes, at this 
time on the banks of the Thames. 



AGRICULTURE. 

** A field of corn, a fountain, and ;t wood 
Is all the wealth by nature understood." Cowper. 

The clergy were great improvers of agriculture, more so than 
the Norman nobility. " The rural labours of the season, with 
the signs of the Zodiac, are sculptured on Cremona Cathedral, 
built 1274. The benedictions of the fruits of the earth were 
celebrated on the feast of the Ascension ; of orchards, on St. 
James Apostle ; of grapes, on St. Xystus days."* 

" Thomas A. Beckett, after he was Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, used to go out into the fields with the monks of his monas- 
teries, and join them in the work of the fields. The twenty- 
sixth canon of the council of Lateran, held 1179, affords proof 
of the clergy working at agriculture. "| 

It will, perhaps, surprise many of my readers, when I inform 
them there are many thousand acres of meadow land in England 
annually irrigated : those near Salisbury have been watered time 
immemorial, and great crops of grass are produced thereby. 

Evelyn says, " The draining of land was first begun by the 
agricultural monks." 

There are parts of the coast of England which produce most 
excellent grazing lands, which have been reclaimed from the 
sea. The celebrated Romney marsh, of 40,000 acres, in Kent, 
was taken from old Neptune during the Saxon era, eight 
hundred years past. 

May hew Hake, a Fleming, under Henry VII., began draining 
the Lincolnshire fens about the town of Boston. 

* Digby. t Loudon. 

9* 



102 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

Under Cromwell, an officer in one of his borse regiments, 
named Vermuyden, (born in Flanders,) reclaimed several thou- 
sand acres more by embanking : and there has been reclaimed, 
by Rennie, in 1831, 90,000 acres more. App. xi. 

Grosetete, Bishop of Lincoln, translated a book on agriculture 
from the French in 1500. Turnips first mentioned, 1586. Sir 
A. Fitzherbert, a law judge, wrote on agriculture in 1594. 

In 1560 a great number, and several varieties, of trees were 
planted in the gardens of the Bishop of London, at Fulham, 
and also in several other places, from this hemisphere ; but as 
yet not much has been used ; and, from what I have heard, I 
believe the timber is not so good as the native timber : but few 
of the Oaks from this Union stand the climate. 

In 1608 a proclamation was issued for the planting of mul- 
berry trees : they were then bent on raising siUc, in which they 
have never succeeded; the trees flourished, and they afford a 
pleasant fruit, but that is all the advantage they have ever 
been. 

During the reign of Henry VII. the enclosing of commons 
commenced, which has been the cause of much injury to the 
poor ; and which has been continued till now there is nothing 
worth enclosing. From the year 1774 to 1813 there were 2632 
acts of enclosure passed for England and Wales. In 1750 there 
was a general enclosure act passed for all Scotland. 

In 1701 Jethro Tull began the drill husbandry: he turned 
the barrel of an old organ into a machine. The maize or corn 
plant was introduced by D'Hauy, Esq., at Hungerford Park, 
from 1760 to 1764 ; and was again tried about 1828, by Mr. 
Cobbett, at Barnes' Elms, on the banks of the Thames : some 
was grown also in Scotland.* 

It is found that the wild thyme gives a very fine flavour to 
deer and sheep : the yarrow is often planted to give flavour 
to venison, mutton, milk, and butter ; and aromatic plants 
should be introduced where pigs graze. 

The following beautiful extract, from the " Treasury of 
Knowledge," shows that Claudian, who flourished in the 
fourth century, was not unacquainted with the sexual system 
in the vegetable world, though the merit of classification 
belongs to Linneus : 

" Et platani platanis^ alnoque assibUat alnus. The very 
leaves live but to love, and throughout the lofty grove the 
happy trees have their amours ; the palm nodding to the palm 

* Sir Humphrey Davy, the chemist, says : " When dung heats above 
100 degrees Fahr,, it deteriorates, and the volatile alkali flies off." 

Mr. Cobbett says : " Fifteen bushels of salt to the acre will kill the wire- 
worm : lime is of no use." 



TIMBER PLANTING. 103 

ratifies their leagues ; the poplar sighs for the poplar's embrace , 
the platanus hisses its loye to the platanus ; and the alder t^ 
the alder " 



TIMBER PLANTING. 

The English are indebted to Italy fir the larch, the stone- 
pine, the evergreen oak, the Lonnbardy poplar, the sweet bay, 
and the arbutus. According to McCulloch, the value of 
timber annually cut down in Great Britain is £2,000,000. 

D'Israeli says : " The present navy of Great Britain has 
been constructed with the oaks which the geiiius of Evelyn 
planted." He died 1705. 

Fresh plantations are often going on in the royal forests for 
ship timber, and by thousands of individuals for that and other 
purposes. I will give an extract from A. J. Downing's work, 
" A treatise on the theory and practice cf landscape garden- 
ing." " Of the larch plantation of the Duke of Athol, in Scot- 
land, who began in 1738, he has had planted 27,431,600 trees. 
A frigate has been built from some of the first planted." 

Mr. Thomas Johnes, in Wales, had planted, of various trees, 
between the years 1795 and 1.801, 2,065,000. 

In 1834 the Earl of Radnor had planted, at Coleshill House 
Park, in Berkshire, 13,600 locusts, raised by Mr. Cobbett from 
seeds which grew on Long Island, U. S. 

Coke,* of Norfolk, (Earl of Leicester,) who died only a few 
months past, was, in 1832, with his lady and family, on board 
a small vessel built at Wells from oak of which he planted 
the acorns. 

His Norfolk estate is about 56,000 acres, which, when he 
came into possession, rented for about Is. 6d. per acre, or about 
iESOOO per annum ; at his death it produced full iS20,000. His 
annual fall of timber (all his own planting) amounted to about 
i£3000 per year. By his attention and management, he turned 
a desert into a paradise, and realized the maxim of Swift : " He 
who can make two blades of grass grow where only one grew 
before, is so far a creator." 

* This man was one of the very few who sincerely opposed the war 
against the American Independence, and was the first to move an address 
in the British house of commons in favour of acknowledging it. He also 
sought and cultivated the personal friendship of all the ambassadors from 
this country. " Peace to his memory !" 



104 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

With the Scriptural admonition of " Go thou and do like- 
wise," I will introduce the reader to old English country life : 
first prefacing it with the following extraordinary and atrocious 
instance of a vile murder : 

LITTLECOT HOUSE. 

" Come listen to a tale of times of old." Southey. 

Littlecot House is two miles from Hungerford, Berkshire. 
The fact occurred in the reign of Elizabeth. " It was a dark 
rainy night, in the month of November, that an old midwife sat 
musing by her cottage fire, when on a sudden she was startled by 
a loud knocking at the door ; on opening it, she found a horse- 
man, who told her that her assistance was required immediately 
by a person of rank, and that she should be handsomely reward- 
ed ; but that there were reasons for keeping the affair a strict 
secret, and, therefore, she must be blind-folded, and conducted in 
that condition to the bed-chamber of the lady. After proceed- 
ing in silence for many miles through rough and dirty lanes, 
they stopped, and the midwife was led into a house which, 
from the length of the walk through the apartment, as well as 
the sounds about her, she discovered to be the seat of wealth 
and power. When the bandage was removed from her eyes she 
found herself in a bed-chamber, in which was the lady on whose 
account she had been sent for, and a man of a haughty and 
ferocious aspect. The lady was delivered of a fine boy ; im- 
mediately the man commanded the midwife to give him the 
child, and, taking it from her, he hurried across the room and 
threw it on the back of the fire then blazing in the chimney. 
The child, however, was strong, and, by its struggles, rolled 
itself off upon the hearth, when the ruffian seized it again, 
and, in spite of the intercession of the midwife and the more 
piteous entreaties of the mother, thrust it under the grate, and, 
raking the live coals upon it, soon put an end to its life. The 
midwife, after spending some time in affording all the relief in 
her power to the wretched mother, was told that she must be- 
gone. Her former conductor appeared, who again bound her 
eyes, and conveyed her behind him to her own house : he then 
paid her handsomely, and departed. The midwife was strongly' 
agitated by the horrors of the preceding night, and she imme- 
diately made a deposition of the fact before a magistrate. Two 
circumstances afforded hopes of detecting the house in which 
the crime had been committed : one was, that the midwife, as 
she sat by the bed-side, had, with a view to discover the place, 
cut out a piece of the bed-curtain, and sewn it in again ; the 
other was, as she descended the stairs she had counted the steps. 



3 



COUNTRY LIFE. 105 

Some suspicion fell upon one Darell, at that time the proprietor 
of Littlecot House and the domain around it. The house was 
examined, and identified b}^ the midwife; and Darell was tried 
at Salisbury for the murder. By corrupting the jud^e,* he 
escaped the sentence of the law ; but broke his neck by a fall 
from his horse while hunting, a tew months after. The place 
where this happened is still called Darell's Hill, which brings 
to mind DarelFs horrid conduct. 

" For all an example — a pattern to none." — Swift. 
" His monument ought to have been the maws of kites." — Sh.4KSPEARB. 



COUNTRY LIFE. 

" Sweet country life — to such unknown 
Whose lives are others, not their own ; 
But serving courts, and cities be, 
Less happy — less enjoying thee. 
For sports, for pageantries, and plays 
Thou hast thy eves and holydays ; 
On which the young men and maids meet, 
To exercise their dancing feat — 
Tripping the comely country round, 
With daffodils and daisies crowned. 
Thy wakes, thy quintals here thou hast. 
Thy May-poles, too, with garlands graced ; 
Thy morris dance, thy whitsun ale. 
Thy shearing feasts, they never fail : 
Thy harvest home, thy wassail howl, 
That's tossed after fox i' the hole ; 
Thy mummeries, thy twelfth night king, 
Thy queen, thy Christmas revellings. 
Thy nut-brown mirth, thy russet art ; 
And no man pays too dear for it." Herrick, 16*^. 

I THINK proper, after the above motto, to begin this chapter 
with an extract from " Gilpin's Life of Bishop Lattimer." 
It is rather before our period, but so full and expressive 
of the simple, useful, happy, and harmless state of life, that 
it will serve to compare with the important period under con- 
sideration. Although comparisons are said to be odious, yet 
they are highly instructive. 

" — Let us now 

With graver air our serious theme pursue, 

And yet preserve our moral in full view." Francis. 

* This was one ©f those judges who, 

" For fees, to any form he moulds a cause — 
The v^rorse has merits, and the best has flaws : 
FiTe guineas make a criminal to day, 
And ten to-morrow wipes the stain away " Garth. 



106 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

" Lattimer was born in Leicestershire, 1472, and was one of 
the unfortunate sufferers at the stake during the reign of Queen 
Mary, 1555. He was feeble from age ; and, if ' he were not a 
great man, he was a good man ;' and it was the height of cruelty 
that he should have so suffered. 

*' * He was a good man, and, amid our tears, 

Sweet, grateful thoughts within our bosom rise ; 
"We trace his spirit up to brighter spheres.' 

" He says, in a sermon, ' His father was a yeoman, and paid 
one shilling per acre for his land, but he had no land of his 
own : he tilled as much as kept six men ; had a sheep-walk 
for one hundred sheep ; and his mother's dairy consisted of 
thirty milch kine. He kept hospitality with his neighbours, 
and gave some alms to the poor. The family laid upon straw 
pallets or rough mats, covered with a sheet, the under coverlet 
of dogs^ wain or hop harlots, and a good round log of wood 
under the head instead of a bolster or pillow. If, within seven 
years after marriage, a master of a family could purchase a 
mattress or flock bed, and add thereto a sack of chaffe to rest 
the head, he thought himself well lodged. Pillows were 
thought meete onlie for women in child-bed ; for seldom had 
they anie under the bodye to keep them from the pricking 
strawes.' He tells of the beginning of a change of treene platters 
into pewter, and wooden spoons into tin and silver. At his 
time — oh ! what changes doth this crooked world afford — 
* farmers dined after fashionable people, viz., at one o'clock, 
supper at seven ; but they had good eating for the house fare.' " 

Tusser writes, 

" Good ploughmen look weekly, of custom and right, 
For roast meat on Sundayes and Thursday at night." 

The dress of the farmer was plain and durable, consisting, tor 
common purposes, of coarse gray cloth or fustian in the form 
of trunk hose, and a frock over, or a doublet. 

In 1560 Markham wrote "Instructions to a good Housewife," 
in which, among much good advice, he recommends " the gar- 
ments to be comely and strong made, as well to promote health 
as to adorn the person, altogether without the garnishes or the 
gloss of light colours, and far from the new fantastic fashions. 
Let the provisions be more from their own yard than the 
furnishing of the market." 

Some years after this, Holland writes, " For, in default of 
gardeninge, what remedie was there then but to drawe the 
purse-strings, and goe for everything either to the butchery 
or the hearb market, and so live upon the pennie " 



COUNTRY L!F© 107 

Markham continues : " The knowledge should be Intimacy 
with domestic physics, cookery, and distillation of simple 
waters,* making and preserving wines, making malt, conducting 
of dairies, brewing, and baking. From the division of time, it 
appears theyrose, during summer, at four; in winter, at five ; and 
breakfasted before daylight. The housewife to be the carver 
and distributer of the meat and the pottage." But, oh ! strange 
to us of these easy and liberal-minded days ; he recommends 
the dame not to scold the girls, but to thrash them heartily 
when they are refractory. One would suppose he had had an 
introduction to his Queen Bess ; she used to box all about her, 
whether man, woman, or child. But he adds a circumstance 
strongly enforcing his high opinion of the use of music : 

" Such servants are oft'nest painesfuU and good, 
That sing as they labour, like birds in the wood." 

All were to wash their hands before supper and dinner : tne 
latter, at noon, was to be quickly despatched, and no dainties. 

" No cooks with art increased physicians fees, 
Nor served up death in soups and fricassies." Garth. 

" A bare table will do as well as if covered with cloth ; wooden 
and pewter dishes, and tin vessels for liquor, are best, as being 
most secure." And then, with accustomed piety, he advises the 
regular use of grace. " Commence getting ready for supper 
when fowls go to roost ; hogs then to be served ; cows milked ; 
and, as the men servants come from the fields, none to come 
emptie-handed, but bring some wood, some logs ; the dog is tc 
have the bones and the scraps, and the housewife to look care- 
fully to candles, fires, and keys : bed at nine o'clock in winter, 
and at ten in summer." 

As there is no recommendation of anything intellectual, I 
suppose that, during a long winter's evening, they would 

" Descant on ducks, and geese, and cocks, and hens, 
Hay-stacks and dairies, cow-houses and pens ; 
Descant on dung-hills, and every sort of kine, 
E'en on the pretty article of swine." Pindar. 

The learned Lawyer Selden'sf father was a farmer and 

* The following list of the plants which they distilled is taken from the 
Northumberland house-book : *' Roses, buradge, f^pmingtory, brakes, colum- 
bynes, okeyn-leefes, hartes' tongue, draggons, parcely, balme, walnut-Ieefes, 
longdo-beef, prymer-roses, saige, sorrel, red mynt, betany, cowslops, dande- 
lyon, fennel, scabias, elder flowers, mary-golds, wilde tansey, wormewoode, 
woodebinde, endyfFe, hawsse," t Born 1584, 



108 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

musician at Salvington, in Sussex : the farm contained eighty- 
one acres, for which he paid i£23 per year. 

The houses or cottages of the farmers were built often in 
places abounding with woods, and then in a very strong, sub- 
stantial manner ; but in open countries they were compelled 
to build slighter, to use more flimsy materials, with here and 
there a girder, to which was fastened their sprints, (laths,) and 
then covered the whole over with thick mud, to keep out wind 
and weather. There were several rooms above and beneath, 
coated with lime or cement, white washed, and neatly covered 
with reeds.* 

" Where houses be reeded, (as houses have neede,) 
Now pare off the mosses, and go beate the reade ; 
The faster ye drive it, the smoother and plaine, 
More handsome ye make it, to shut off the raine." Tusser. 

On the nineteenth of May, 1672, Evelyn has the following 
entry in his journal : " Went to Margate, and the following 
day was carried to see a gallant widow, brought up a farmeresse, 
and I think of gigantic race, rich, comely, and exceedingly 
industrious." The farmers' wives of that day (as well as this) 
were, for general useful knowledge, the first in the country. I 
have the pleasure of knowing one in the County of Warwick, 
who answers that description to a tittle ; and who, for her 
many good qualities, would do honour to the company of 
Queen Victoria. 

'* Her home is the resort 



Of love, of joy, of peace, and plenty; where, 

Supporting and supported, polished friends 

And dear relations mingle into bliss." Thomson. 



THE COUNTRY LABOURER. 

" And every village smoked at wakes with lusty cheere." Drayton. 

He was then the most patient, easiest governed creature of 
any in the world, with anything like common justice ; and as I 
unfortunately know their present condition — ^which is fairly 
depicted in the following lines ; 

Famine is in thy cheeks, 



Need and oppression showeth in thy eye — 

Upon thy back hangs ragged misery ; 

The world is not thy friend— nor the world's law." 

* HoUingshed, 1577. 



THE COUNTRY LABaURER. 109 

— -I should feel shame not to state that the change which is 
now so great, has been brought about by taxation ; and, indeed, 
as it arises from an enormous debt, which can never be paid, their 
case seems hopeless ; but it may, and 1 hope will, be an example 
for other countries to avoid national debts, which are ine 
" parents of taxation, which produces misery, and misery pro 
duces crime." 

** This monster, patriots, with your darts engage ; 
Here point your thunder, here exhaust your rage." Pope. 

The manners of the labourer still exhibited much of the same 
rude, but honest, sincere, warm-hearted simplicity by which 
they were characterized in the days of Elizabeth ; somewhat 
answering to the following description : 

" A clownish roughness and unkindly close, 
Unfriendly stiff, and peevishly morose." Creech. 

Rural education had undergone little, if any, iDiproveinenl 
or enlargement during the whole of the seventeenth century. 
Their tutors seemed to have the following idoa, so jocosely 
expressed by Pindar : 

" One intellect not all things comprehends ; 

The genius formed for weeds, and grubs, and flies, 
Can't have for ever at its fingers' euds 
What's doing every moment in the L^kiea," 

A writer in the Edinborough Review has said : " Except in 
very extraordinary cases, the common education of the times 
will do all for a man that the spirit of the times will allow 
education to do for him." 

The necessary monotonous occupations of the Johnny Whop- 
straws still were enlivened by wakes and fairs, which were 
thronged with puppet-shows, pedler's stalls, raffling tables, 
pricking in the garter, and drinking booths, bull-baitings, and 
cock-fightings ; while toward evening, when they had been 
warmed with " ale or viler liquors," they contended, in a friend- 
ly manner, with each other in wrestling matches, cudgel play- 
ing, and foot-racing. In this last sport young women were 
frequently performers, and the usual prize was a good Holland 
sm-k. Among the favourite competitions at fairs were grin- 
ning matches, in which the greatest or longest triangularly 
booking face was poked, grinning most hideously, through a 
horse-collar, putting one in mind of a picture of a Saracen's 
head in the pangs of death, framed in leather ; and trials in 
whistling through a long tune, trying to be put out by the 
drolleries of a Merry Andrew — he exhibiting his wily capers 

10 



lid THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

before the crooked-mouthed warbler. Contentions of this 
nature were also frequent during the celebrations of the annual 
church festivals, and especially at Christmas, when a trial of 
yawning for a Cheshire cheese took place at midnight ; and he 
who gave the widest, and largest, and most natural yawn, so 
as to set the whole company agape in sympathy, carried off the 
cheese in triumph.* 



THE COTTAGE. 

Where is the country that has not been informed of this, 
the most beautiful object that can possibly be presented to the 
imagination of every warm-hearted man ? where is the writer, 
either in poetry or prose, or in what department of the graphic 
art is there, in which all the artist's sympathies have not been 
engaged to portray its virtues and its charms ? 

" I saw by the smoke that so gracefully curl'd 
O'er the green elms, that a cottage was near ; 
And I said, if there's peace to be found in the world, 
A heart that is humble may hope for it here, 
A heart that is humble may hope for it here." 

Such is the beginning of a beautiful song ; and what English 
heart is there that doep not beat with delight whenever it is 
sung ? Let us hear Hollingshed, who wrote in 1577 : " It 
had two rooms on a ground floor, with one or more rooms over 
it, thatched with straw or sedge ; with garden and orchard 
attached, and often a common-right." (The poor law, which 
was passed in Elizabeth's reign, authorized every new cottage 
to have four acres of corhmon enclosed for it.) App. xii. 

This was universally so till robbed of them by enclosures, 
which Bacon says began in 1489, under the plea that they were 
wastes. Wastes or not, they fed thousands of sheep, rabbits, 
and geese at no cost. Blackstone says : " There were commons 
without stint, and lasted all the year." Besides, the cottager 
who had the garden, orchard, and a common-right, united in his 
own person three important characters ; he was a landlord, a 
farmer, and a servant. If he could not at all times get labour 
from others, here was employment for himself, and family too 

" Naught is useless made on the barren heath ; 
The shepherd tends his flock, that daily crop 
Their verdant dinner from the mossy turf; 
Sufficient after them, the cackling goose, 
Close grazer, finds wherewith to ease his wants." Phillips. 



# 



Spectator. 



THE COTTAGE. Ill 

How truly do the following lines from Virgil apply to the 
English cottager of this period : 

" His cares are eased with interx'als of bliss ; 
His little children, climbing lor a kii;a, 
Welcome their father's late rolMni at night — 
His faithful bed is crown'd with chaste delight ; 
His kinc, with swelling udders, ready stand, 
And, lowing for the pail, invite the milker's hand." 

The lines from " Patient Countesse " describe the fare and 
furniture in the cottages : now all is totally ciianged. Kach 
labourer may now say, as a warning to other governments^ 

'' Oh ! that the tenor of my just complaint 
Were scnlp't with steel on rocks of adamant." Saxpys. 

Besides, " in the depression of a people the strength of the 
prince is weakened ; for a ground-down people is neither able 
nor willing to increase his power."* 

The following lines, from Warner's Poetry, (his name and 
works are nearly forgotten,) are descriptive of the fare and fur- 
niture of a country cottage in 1602. A gentleman 

" Once hurited he until the chase, 
Long fasting, and the heat 
Did house him in a peakish graungef 
Within a forest great. 

Where knowne and welcomed, (as the place 
And persons might afforde,) 
- Brown bread, whig, bacon, curds, and milke 
Were set him on the borde. 

A cushion made of listes, a stoole 

Half© backed with a hoope, 
Were brought him, and he sitteth down 

Beside a sorry coupe. 

The poore old couple wisht their bread 

Were wheat, their whig were perry, 
Their bacon beefe, their milke and curds 

Were creame, to make him merry. "J 

The following lines apply to a later period : 

_ " While broken tea-cups, wisely kept for show, 

Ranged o'er the chimney, glisten in a row." Goldsmith. 

HoUiugshed, in the year 1577, said: " The general run of 

* John of Salisbury. t A lone country house, 

t'From Percy's Reliques of old English Poetry. 



11.2 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

houses were beginning to be improved. Instead of glass to 
the windows, they used to have lattice-work or panels c-f horn, 
glass being scarce and dear. Walls were hung with tapestry 
or arras-work, or painted cloth with divers histories, herds of 
beasts, or knot stained, and ceiled with oak, or wainscot-wood 
brought from abroad. Stoves were coming into use ; also 
Turkic work, pewter, brass fire-irons, and costly cupboards of 
silver plate." 

They had a neat chapel, a spacious hall, and a banqueting- 
room, with windows opening into the hall, the chapel, and the 
kitchen ; and a few sly openings to look through, to see what 
might be going on. The kitchen hung round with quaint moral 
sentences and devices, every one of which may be found in 
'* Poor Richards' Almanac," (1758.) 

At Clopton House, near Stratford, on Avon, is the following 
verse : 

'^fstttftv scit rfse carlj) 

®r 20 to tzti late, 
3^eme nlier €:|)rfst S^sus, 

®J!Ri)o "Dietr for gom* »aite. 



HOUSES OF THE GENTRY. 

In the British museum there is a volume containing forty 
different tablets, on which sentences are inscribed which once 
ornamented the apartments of Sir Nicholas Bacon : they are 
in Latin, and fine specimens of the arts and the taste of the 
sixteenth century.* 

The knight or rich squire enjoyed much good eating and 
hospitality, on a high cross table (called a dais for him and hi^ 
friends) at one end of the hall, on particular days of festivity ; 
and a larger table for the rest of the guests, divided off by a 
salt-cellar. Dekkar humorously describes a way to plague or 
vex any one : '' Set him below the salt, and let him not touch a 
bit till every one has eat his fill." 

There was much cookery. The first dish at Christmas was 
always a boar's head, with a lemon in its mouth. On Easter 
day a red herring, dressed by the cook like a man on horseback, 
set on a corn sallad ; this was symbolic of fish being over : also 
a gammon of bacon, to show the host was not a Jew. 

After a feast, mumming, (this was male and female disguising 
one another by a change of dresses,) masquerades, and dancing. 

* Gentleiifun's Magazine. 



HOUSES OF THE GENTRY. ll^" 

" The merrye tabors' gamesome sound 
Provoked ihe sprightly dance around." Bkattie. 

The servants of the house all in full livery, and some em- 
bellished with (cognozances) badges of coat armour — on their 
arms. 

The large hall, often from sixty to one hundred feet long, and 
from thirty to forty feet wide, was hung round with otter spears, 
eel spears, and other implements of fishing and shooting ; the 
cunning fox's brush, hunting-cap, and whip, and deer's antlers.* 

Embellishments of coat armour often adorned the half curtain- 
ed mullion windows, and the bosses and brackets of the roof. 

The windows were of small panes, of lozenge or diamond 
shape ; with the whole heraldry of all the family alliances 
thus brilliantly emblazoned in stained glass, which would 
occupy some part of every window of their extensive halls, 
and had a tasteful appearance. 

" Whose beams, thus hallowed by the scenes they pass, 
Tell round the floor each parable of glass." 

But if the gentleman was also a justice of the peace, honest 
Aubrey says : ^' The screen was garnished with orstels and 
helmets, gaping savagely open-mouthed ; coats of mail, lances, 
pikes, halberds, brown-bills, and bucklers." 

*' The echoes of its walls are eloquent — 
The stones have voices, and the walls do live : 
It is the hottse of memory." Maturin. 

The usual fare at dinner, (at eleven o'clock,) if no visiters, 
was five or six dishes. King, in his art of cookery, says 
they " delight in hodge-podge, gallimaufrie, forced meats, &c." 
" Other kickshaws ; besides, there came last night from the 
forest of Sherwood the fattest stag 1 ever cooked."']' 

" What say you — a pastye 1 it shall and it must, 
And my wife little Kitty is famous for crust." 

They delighted in being bulky ; great notice was taken if they 
grew thin. 

*' Say what it was that made his paunch so 'peare ; 
His girdle's fell ten inches in a yoare." Bishop Hall. 

After dinner they retired to the garden bower, to partake 
of the banquet or fruit desert : from the banquet to evening 
prayer ; thence to supper at five or six. On days of festivity 
this meal, like the dinner, was substantial, n-nd protracted to a 

* Lord Pembroke's hall is decorated with fori/ different shaped deer'i 
antlers, 

t Massinger. 

10* 



114 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OP GREAT BRITAIN. 

late hour, with all sorts of boisterous mirth and gambollins^. 
At other times by the paxloiir fire-side, with the harp, sinoiiio 
madrigals ; a posset at bed-tim.e, or an Oxford riight~cap. 

Laevinius Lemnius, a di\nne and physician of Zealand, who 
visited England, thus writes, 1576 : '' The neate cleannesse, the 
exquisite finenesse, the pleasaent and delightfii] furniture, in 
everjT- point, for whole household, wonderfully rejoiced mee ; 
their chambers and parlours strewed over with sweete herbes, 
refreshed mee ; their nosegayes finely intermingled wyth son- 
drye sortes of fragraunt flowers in their bedde chambers and 
privee roomes, with comfortable smell, cheered mee up and 
intierlie delighted all my senses." 

" Our wisest ancestors — those of Shakspeare's time — who 
understood most things better than we, and whom we begin to 
understand better than any of their posterity, knew how to 
take the rough hint of nature, and kept up their Christmias 
festivities through the whole of the month. They got a little 
and enjoyed everything, instead of getting everything and 
enjoying a little. In the day they made leisure for healthy 
sports out of doors, and in the evening they were at their 
music, their books, and their pastimes."* 

The gentleman or wealthy yeoman, (a lower grade,) he too 
kept hospitality, loved festivity, and was ardently attached to 
the sports of the field. There was no room to be found any- 
where for that contemptible thing, the modern poodle or lap- 
dog ; for his hall floor was occupied by greyhounds, the frisky 
bushy sterned spaniel, with his ringleted dewlaps almost 
sweeping the floor, (if a person is to turn his house into a dog 
kennelj he may as well have those which are of some use, in 
preference to those that are of no use,) and on his hand 
perched some favourite hawk. 

Heraldries, romances, and chronicles were his principal 
studies. The best parlour only opened on particular occasions : 
that was furnished with Turkie work, and hung round with 
family portraits ; the men as shepherds, with their crooks, 
dressed in full suits, and according to the chronology of the 
dresses of the times — long hair or full-bottomed wigs ; others in 
complete armour, buff leather coats or doublets — playing on the 
lute or viol. The females were exhibited as shepherdesses, with 
a young lamb or crook, high head-dresses, and flowing robes. "f 

Grose, the antiquary, gives an account of this sort of cha- 
racter at the beginning of Queen Anne's reign, who might 
have a rental of ilSOO per year. " He appeared in a plain drab 
plush coat, large silver buttons, jockey cap, leather breecbeSj 

* Anonymous, t Drake. 



HOUSES OF THE GENTR» . 115 

and rarely from morn till night, except Sundays, without 
boots. He never travelled farther than the county town at 
assizes, or sessions, or elections. Once a week dines at the 
nearest market town with the justices and attorneys, frequents 
church rigorously, reads some weekly country journal, settles 
all disputes at the vestry, where he and the rector reign and 
act as lords paramount, (and wo betide any poor parishioner 
who thwarts them ;) and goes at night to some neighbouring 
ale-house, where he usually gets drunk, of course for the public 
good, every drop he drinks being excised ; never plays at cards 
but at Christmas, when a family pack is produced from the 
mantle-shelf 

" He is generally followed by a couple of greyhounds or 
pointers, and announces his arrival at his neighbour's house by 
a smart smack of his whip, or by giving a good view halloo. 
His drink is generally ale, except at Christmas, when he makes 
a bowl of punch, garnished with toast and nutmeg." 

A journey to London then was considered a far greater 
undertaking, and attended with far more solemnity, than a 
voyage now is round either or both capes. 

His mansion was of plaster, striped with solid sawed oak 
timber, that would square from six to nine inches — or of red 
brick ; with large casemented bow w*indows, a porch with 
seats in it, and over this a bit of a studv.* The eaves of the 
house were occupied by swallows. 

" Heralds and sweet harbingers that move 



From east to west on embassies of love — 

They can the tropic cut, and cross the line." Howell. 

The court was set round with hollyhocks. Near the wicket 
gate was a horse-block, for him and his dame to dismount more 
easily ; and under this a large growling dog, a faithful repre- 
sentative of his master ; for, although he could not act as porter 
to open the gate, yet he could act the bully. 

His hall was furnished with many rows of fliches of bacon 
and hams of many dates ; a large wooden arm-chair, with or 
without rockers, and softly cushioned ; and in each chimney- 
corner a seat, one being the salt-box, which, being at once an 
emblem of classical and theological wisdom, was consequently 
proper for one or two of the younger fry of the family ; so that 
if those very necessary qualifications could not be got into them 
at one end, they might at the other. 

The mantel-pieces were generally to be seen crammed with 

* Speke Hall, near Liverpool, is a fine building of this descriptx)n, with 
a square court inside large enough to contain two yew trees now growing 
as large as apple trees. Built in 159S. 



no THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

guns, fishing-rods, spits, and brass candlesticks. On the beams 
were broad-swords, partisans, rapiers, and da2:«;t*rs borne or used 
by his ancestors in the civil wars. On the side-walls were stag's 
horns, to hang his own and his friends' hats and wigs upon. 

Against the side-walls, and in the highest place, would be 
pasted King Charles's " Golden i2w/e5," teaching him passive 
obedience and non-resistance — Vincent Wing's Almanac, and a 
portrait of Marlborough. In the bow window seat, which was 
the family library, would be found Baker's Chronicles, Fox's 
Martyrs, Glanvill on Apparitions, Quiveron's Dispensatories, 
the complete Justice of the Peace, and a book of Farriery. At 
Christmas he entertained his tenants and tradesmen in this hall, 
when, with jorums after jorums, 

" Let the horn go rounde, 
Let the quart pot sounde, 
Let each one do as he's done to ;" Beaumont. 

foaming with strong ale till morning dawned. These jovial 
blades passed the night singing loyal songs : 

" And chant no other song but such as slaves would sing 
In praise of right divine, should log or stork be king ;" 

bawling away until 

" They shook roofs and s\i-vered windows ;" 

and drinking church and queen, and d — mning every faction or 
sect they did not belong to. 

" And is this all 1 is this the end 
To which their carryings on did tend." Butler. 

No, thou prince of drollerj'- ! " the end is not yet." The 
national debt, which had just began, is to be settled, which will 
cause " crimson tears to follow yet." 

The difference between a farmer of 1722 and 1822 has been 
thus very accurately versified : 

1722. 1822. , 

Man to the plough, - Man, tally-ho, 

Wife to the cow, Miss, piano, 

Girl to the sow. Wife, silk and sating) 

Boys to the mow, Boys, Greek and Latin, 

And your rents will be rated, And you'll be gazetted. 

This is a fair account of old English country life, which has 
drawn forth the following verse : 

" Fairer suns and softer climate 
May in other lands be found ; 
But the sweet domestic virtues 
Thrive alone on British ground." 



^..MP vs. DRY SITUATIONS CCU^ H7 

DAMP vs. DRY SITUATIONS. 

It is not often that people have opportunities of building 
upon spots they would most approve of: but it vi^ill sometimes 
happen that a situation vrhich is damp may be chosen upon 
better terms than one which is dry. A stagnant swamp under 
no circumstances can be desirable ; but mere dampness does not 
appear to be unhealthy. Forty-five years past I wrote upon 
a scrap of paper as follows : 

" There is a part of the city of Coventry, from St. John's 
bridge to St. John's church, called Earl-street — distance rather 
less than a quarter of a mile — a low situation : some of the 
houses have no cellars, and sometimes a little river overflows 
the street from two to three feet deep ; yet there is living in 
that short space the following old people, who had lived there 
all their lives, and the youngest is more than seventy years old : 
Dr. Vernon and his wife ; Alderman Clarke, a carpenter ; Alder- 
man Hands, a dyer ; Blogg, a grocer ; Hands and Aston, thread- 
makers and dyers ; James Potter, a barber ; T. Bateman, a 
butcher ; John Losb, a weaver ; Alcott, a shoe-maker ; Ames, 
a skinner ; Sanderson, a shoe-maker ; Jopson, a dyer ; and Cox, 
a blacksmith. These fifteen individuals were as old as any in 
the city, and in that short space the greatest number of them 
were huddled together, although the whole inhabitants num- 
bered about 10,000." I at that time knew each of them : 
some of them were born before the reign of the Brunswick 
family, (1714,) and were remarkably industrious. It was this 
spot, and the water from this little stream, that produced the 
well known Coventry blue dye, which never faded ; alluded to 
by Drayton, (A.D, 1593 :) 

*' His aule and lingale in a thong, 
His tar-boxe on his broad belt hong ; 
His breech of Coyntrie hlewe." 



COAL. 

" Man is a fire-naaking animal." — Lavoisier. 

This very important article of necessity began to be of the 
greatest importance at the beginning of the reign of the Stuarts. 
Perhaps a short history of it may be interesting. 

Coal is an old English word : in Cornish it is called kolon ; 
in Irish, guel. Julius Csesar, who came with the first body of 
Roman invaders, mentions all the English metals, but is silent 
about coals. According to the researches of the geologists, 



118 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

tin is supposed to have been the first metal formed by the Al- 
mighty, (and no doubt was the first worked in Great Britain ;) 
then silver and copper ; latest, gold and iron. No doubt the 
Romans soon found coal. In the language of miners, it would 
be found cropped out ; that is, on the surface : vast quantities 
of cinders have been found in many of their old stations> 

The oldest grant known about coal was by the Abbot of 
Peterborough, Anno. 835, in England ; and in Scotland by the 
Abbot of Dunfermline, in 1291. Chiminum is a term often 
met with in old monastic grants ; it implies a right of road to 
and from the mines. 

Fires were first burned in the middle of great halls, and the 
apparatus was called a mediasHne : the smoke made its exit 
through holes in the roof, called a louvere, like lufter boards 
at malt-houses or paper-mills ; and which were then, and are 
now, very ornamental appendages to their noble buildings : the 
hall of Westminster vSchool is now w'armed in this manner. 
The great hall of Westminster has a very beautiful one, which 
is now glazed, to admit light — no fire being burned below it. 

Chimneys are not mentioned by historians till about the 
fourteenth century. Leland, wdio wrote in the reign of Henry 
Vlll.j mentions them at Bolton Hall, in Yorkshire. These in 
later days have become very beautiful and highly ornamented : 
each tunnel had its separate shaft, from six to ten or twelve 
feet high above the roof, and several of them together, forming a 
pleasing and curiously-wrought group ; they were also as useful 
as ornamental, because they prevented the smoke and efliuvia 
and dust from one fire being driven down another in high, 
heavy winds ; and, as they were each unconnected, they did not 
present so bluff an obstacle to the storms, though high ; conse- 
quently the stacks were not so liable to be blown down. 

The coal trade to supply London has, for the last two cen- 
turies, been found to be the best nursery for English seamen : 
the ships have each been obliged to have two apprentices on 
board ; and a tax has been laid UjDon all coal sent by canals, 
as an encouragement to this trade ; so that little or no coal is 
consumed in that great city bat what comes by sea. 

Pit coal w^as not used in smelting iron till the reign of James I. 
It v'as supposed good iron could not be produced by it; but the 
consuiription of wood was found to be so destructive to the forest 
timber, that, if coal had not been available, the w^hole would 
soon have been swept away, or the smelting of iron stopped. 

The first iron cannons cast by the English were at Buckstead, 
in Sussex, in the year 1543. 

In Charles the II. reign there was a duty of one shilling per 
chaldron laid upon all coal consumed in London, to be given to 



>:^f.'*^^m COAL. 119 

the Duke of Richmond, which was one of the results of his 
profligate intercourse with Louisa Queronaille. This was 
a pretty profligate act of both him and his no less profligate 
parliament. But what are we to think of the more profligate 
Pitt and that profligate parliament, who, in 1799, gave to this 
bastard family £'400,000 to relinquish the claim. 

A duty was also laid upon coal after the great fire of London, 
in 1666, to rebuild St. Paul's Cathedral and about fifty other 
churches. 

Gas was first used about 1765, by Spedding, an agent of 
Lord Lonsdale, at his pits near Whitehaven. 

Before the consumption of gas in London, it was calculated 
that every eight persons consumed nine chaldrons per year ; the 
consumption since is, for every eight persons, \en chaldrons. 

From a calculation, there were nine hundred and fifty- four 
poor creatures who lost their lives by fire damp in twenty -five 
years, in all the various mines. I am sorry to state, huinanity 
has been no gainer by the discovery of the Davy lamp : it has 
made the masters and miners more bold and more reckless. 
They are often induced, by a trifling additional pay, to work 
where they would not have done before its invention. 

But the steam engine has been the great cause of producing 
the vast quantities of coal now consumed, by its worldng the 
powerful pumps to clear them from water, and more readily 
bringing forth their seemingly exhaustle.ss conteets. They 
work now many hundred feet deeper than they used to do 
There is one shaft at Monk Wearmouth 1600 feet, supposed to 
^e the deepest entrance into the crust of the earth known in 
the world, estimating from the level of the sea. How much 
deeper that shaft will yet go, is at present not known ; but they 
will pursue the coal as far as human skill can furnish the means 
to extract it. It is found that the deeper they go, the better 
the coal ; and it is an axiom, that " the best gas coal is the 
best smiths' coal." 

Annual consumption of coal in Great Britain in 1836 : 

Domestic and small manufactories, - - - - 15,000,000 

For production of pig and bar iron, - - - - 3,850,000 
^' Cotton manufactories, ------- 800,000 

" Woollen, silk, &c., 500,000 

" Copper smelting, brass manufactories, &c., - 450,000 

*• Salt works, 300,000 

" Lim,e "- ----- 500,000 

Expoit to Ireland, 750,000 

'' to the colonies and foreign parts, - - - 600,000 

Tuns, 22,750,000 



120 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

The English tun is 2240 pounds ; which, at seven shillings 
per tun, amounts to i£7,962,500.* App. xiii. 

The English coal is nearly all bituminous ; but there is some 
of the anthracite got in South Wales, which ought to compose 
the fires in all the domestic establishments in London. 

About twenty years past the anthracite coal was used in 
Wales in the manufacturing of iron. 

Professor Buckland, and other geologists, liave calculated that 
the northern districts will become exhausted in 400 years. 

The following extract from the " Miner's Journal " gives 
some idea of the consumption of coal in this Union for the 
last year: "Foreign, 103,247. Virginia, 68,750. Anthracite, 
1,108,001 tuns." 



EATING AND ENTERTAINMENTS. 

" When art and nature join, the effect will be 
Some mco ragout or charming fricassee." Garth. 

I SHOULD suppose the Sybarites were the most luxurious 
people of any in the world, before they were destroyed by 
Pythagoras, 508 years before Christ : they supplied all nations 
with cooks, confectioners, embroiderers, and riding-masters. 
The Romans also understood it, had splendid feasts, and enjoyed 
them. The French, for the last few centuries, have borne 
the bell. The English seem to have adopted one of their 
notions, which is, to eat their meat with its own gravy. The 
Italian cookery was mostly with oil : this, perhaps, may be 
accounted for from their meat being lean ; whereas, the climate 
of England being humid, and herbage plentiful, its own fat and 
luscious gravy would seem sufficient. 

But there is one circumstance which I cannot help noticing, 
which, though it may not appear at first sight to have much to do 
with cooking, yet it has a great deal to do with the dining-hall 
and the kitchen. 

You must know, gentle reader, that every large establishment 
in former times had a fool — a fool par excellence. There was a 
court fool ; even the corporation of the city of London had its 
household fool : in fact, a large house without a fool was 

«* Like a ring without a finger, 
Or like a bell without a ringer." 

• Mechanic's Magazine. 



EATING AND ENTERTAINMENTS. 121 

Indeed they were not peculiar to England ; other countries had 
them, as though folly was not rife enough there. The English 
fool was often seen joining his capital of capers in company with 
that of a monkey, who, after their hurly-burlying, perched upon 
the fool's shoulders as a resting-place ; and a pretty plump spot 
it was, for the fools were all great fat fellows. Marston says : 

'* I never saw a fool lean ; the chub-faced fop 
Shines sleek with full-crammed fat of happiness." 

And he might have added, with kitchen fat too. 

In the common household slang of the times, the household 
fools all over Europe were always called after the most 
approved national dish. Thus, in England the children called 
him a jack-pudding ; in Holland he was called a pickled 
herring ; in France, jaen-pottage ; in Germany, hans-wiirst, or 
jack-sausage ; giving a curious instance of the association of 
ideas, or, in plain language, " talking as our bellies guide us." 

" Do chattering monkeys mimic men 1 
Or we, turn'd apes, out monkey them 1" 

Foolish as this may appear to us, it had a great and good 
effect : it promoted laughter ; and " laughter," says Professor 
Hufeland, " is one of the greatest helps to digestion ; and the 
custom so prevalent among our forefathers, of exciting it at 
table by jesters and buffoons, was founded on true medical 
principles. In a word, endeavour to have cheerful and merry 
companions at your meals."* 

The English have never cordially adopted French cookery, 
and I think very properly. Reader, do not start ! I am aware 
I must tread as softly here as though I were upon holy ground. 
I know it is the height of all heresies to doubt the French nation 
not being the very pink of all philosophers in the culinary art : 
but is it so ? Let me, before I am brought to the spit^ just 
explain myself. Although, in what I am going to say, if I am 
to be grilled, or stewed, or bedevilled for it, I shall express 
myself in the bold language of Byron : " If every syllable is a 
rattlesnake, and every letter a pestilence, they shall not be 
expunged." This may be obstinacy in me, but perhaps obsti- 
nacy in a right cause may be a virtue. May not the use of 
spices and savoury herbs be carried to excess .? may they not, 
like sweets, begin to loathe } " whereof a little more than a 
little, is by much too much." I have occasionally partaken 
of French cookery, and have never relished a meal : I have 

* " Art of Prolonging Human Life." 
11 



122 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

always found that the flavour of the principle article has been 
lost by the confounding of the flavours of the sauces ; whereas 
they should, according to niy notion of things, do no more 
than heighten it. 

Having thus spoken my mind upon cookery as it regards 
flavour, and in which I may have brought myself in contact 
with the gourmand, I feel myself emboldened also to speak on 
another part of the subject, which may perhaps bring me under 
the scarrifying scalpel of the doctor : however, at all risks — 
and I speak here advisedly and experimentally, from some years 
experience — I deny in toto that the sort of food has anything 
to do with health. From having been for half a century a 

valetudinarian, I have tried great varieties of food, animal, 

vegetable, and pastry ; but I have never found that the sort 
(or the cooking, if only plainly roast or boiled) has had any- 
thing to do with mitigating illness or restoring health. But 
quantity has ; and that quantity, be it more or less, has univer- 
sally agreed with me best which is the most solid. I therefore 
entirely disregard all that is said about " light food." 

There seems to have grown up a distaste in eating /a? meat, 
yet a greater quantity of butter is consumed. There is no 
arguing this question as a matter of taste ; but as a matter of 
economy, there may be two important questions worthy every 
householder's consideration, both of which appeal very power- 
fully to the pocket. In the first place, those who buy meat 
must buy bone; and it must appear self-evident that the 
greater proportion of fat and lean there is on the bone, the 
better it is for the purchaser : it does not follow that those who 
dislike fat are obliged to eat it ; a good cook will know (or 
ought to) how to use it in pastry. Then, secondly, fat meat 
—I mean the lean of it — is better flavoured, more nutritious, 
much more tender, and far more easily digested. Animals, in 
the progress of feeding, arrive at a certain stage of ripeness ; 
and when at that state, the juices of the meat are in greater 
perfection. If the animal is not well fatted, the meat will be 
hard and tough, and in the process of cooking will shrink in 
hulk ; so that the purchaser of lean meat loses in all manner of 
ways.^ Still, if he prefers skin and bone, he may purchase it ; 
experience has long taught me the contrary is by far the best. 

Besides, the fat will make into soap or candles, or burn in 
lamps. 

From Dr. Holland's ^^ Medical Notes and Reflections," 1839, 
it appears " that the saccharine, the oleaginous, and the albu- 
minous parts of our food afford nourishment." He quotes 
Celsus, who says " that intemperance in eating is generally 
more noxious than excess in drinking^." 



"EATING AND ENTERTAINMENTS. 123 

Dr. Baglivi, a Roman physician, mentions that " in Italy 
an unusuall}'' large proportion of the sick recover during 
lent in consequence of the lower diet, which is then observed 
as a religious duty." 

St. Basil says, on fasting : " It cures diseases, dries up the 
humours of the body, puts the demons to flight, renders the mind 
clearer, the heart purer, and the body holier ; in short, it raises 
the man to the throne of God." 

Dr. Holland states that " the stomach requires the stimu- 
lous of variety, but not a variety of stimulants," and gives a 
curious and entertaining table compiled by a Dr. Beaumont, of 
the United States Army, from his work entitled " Experiments 
on the Gastric Juice," printed at Boston in 1814, a work worthy 
every valetudinarian's perusal. 

Trusting that what I have written may not be considered im- 
pertinent, I will now proceed more particularly to the matter 
of the chapter. 

The coronation dinner of King Henry V., (1413,) which hap- 
pened during lent, was entirely of fish. 

Notwithstanding the reformation had taken place, Queen 
Elizabeth issued a proclamation in 1563, ordering fish days to 
be as rigidly observed as during the time of the old religion. 
It was considered wise in a national point of view, and was 
fully observed for perhaps half the century. Fish is ordered 
to be eaten in Leviticus 11:9, and in Deuteronomy 14: -9. 

This order was very politic, tending indirectly to add to the 
quantity of human food ; for every sprmg myriads of fish come 
up the rivers, bays, and creeks to spawn, and may be thus 
easily taken. And, while a population are thus fed, the young 
calves and lambs, which come at the same period, are permitted 
to thrive and grow toward maturity. Hence the wisdom of 
the divine legislature. 

In the middle ages our sturdy ancestors ate baked meat, 
which will account for their enormous ovens. A description of 
the one at Raby Castle, now turned into a wine-cellar, will now, 
from this circumstance, be better understood. 

King John issued an order to Hugh Neville, dated April 19th, 
1206, reo-ulating; kitchens. Amons other reg-ulations, there 
was one setting forth that they were to be provided with the 
means, and the fire-places were to be sufficient, to roast two or 
three oxen whole. To do this, the kitchens were on a grand 
scale.* The abbot's old kitchen, (octagon shape,) at Glaston- 
bury, is now in a fine state of preservation, but occupied as a 
farmer's barn. There is one at Stanton Harcourt 29 feet square, 

* Fosbroke says : " There were bellows-blowers in the royal kitchens, to 
see that the soup was neither burnt nor smoked." 



124 



THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



and 60 feet high to the top of roof: there were two fire-places, 
but no chimney ; the smoke makes its exit through a louvre, 
creeping up the dingy and dusty walls. The large kitchen at 
Haddon Hall had two vast fire-places, with irons for several 
tiers of spits, various store places, a great double range of 
dressers, and an enormous chopping-block, sawn out of the 
solid butt of an ash tree ; adjoining to this kitchen were several 
larders. At Cowdray House, among other luxuries, was a small 
fountain in the middle, spouting forth cold water to moderate 
the temperature. 

From Aubrey's (born 1625) MSS. : " Roasting Jacks had not 
been introduced, so ' the poor boys did turn the spits and lick- 
ed the dripping-pans, and grew to be large, lusty knaves.' " 

Such being the furniture of this part of the dwelling, let us 
now take a view of what they produced. 



THE KING'S FEAST. 

The following articles constituted an entertainment at Hogh- 
ton Hall, in Lancashire, the seat of Sir Arthur Lake, to King 
James, Sunday, August 17th, 1617: 

FIRST COURSE. 



Haunch venison, roast, 
Burred capon, 
Pasty of venison, hot, 
Roast turkey, 
Veal burred, 
Roast swan, 
Chicken pie, hot, 
Roast goose. 
Curlew pie, cold, 

SECOND COURSE. 

Artichoke pie, 
Chickens, 
Curlew, roast, 
Peas, buttered. 
Rabbits, 
Ducks, 

Chickens, burred, 
Pheasant pie. 
Pear tarts. 



Rabbits, cold, 

Jiggets of mutton, boiled, 

Snipe pie, 

Boiled breast of veal, 

Capons, roast. 

Pallets, 

Tongue pie, cold, 

Sprod, boiled. 

Roast pig. 



Pullets, 

Boiled capon. 

Boiled mutton. 

Boiled chickens, 

Shoulder mutton, roast, 

Ducks, boiled, 

Loin veal, roast, 

Pallets, 

Herons, roast, cold. 

Custards, 

Hot pheasant, 

(one for the king,) 

Six quails for the king, 

Partridges, 

Poults, 

Roast pigeons, 

A made dish, 

Turkey pie, 

Hogs' cheeks dried, 

Turkey chicken, cold, 

SUNDAY NIGHT'S SUPPER, FIRST AND SECOND COURSES. 



Plovers, 
Red deer pie, 
Pig, burred. 
Three hot roast herons, 
Roast lamb. 
Gammon bacon, 
Pullets and greens, 
Dried tongues. 
Pheasant tarts. 



Pullets, 
Boiled capon. 
Cold mutton. 



Boiled ducks, 

Plovers, 

Chickens 



Baked chickens. 

Pallets, 

Rabbits, 



EATING AND ENTERTAINMENTS. 



155 



Roast shoulder mutton, 

Chickens, boiled, 

Cold capon, 

Roast veal, 

Rahhit.s, boiled. 

Pallets, 

A roast turkey. 

Hoi vecison pasty, 

Sliced beef, 

Uiuble pie, 



Sprod, boiled. 

Cold neat's tongue pie, 

Baked curlew, cold. 

Turkevs baktul, cold. 

Neat's feet, 

Boiled rabbits. 

Fried rabbits, 

Quails, 

Herons, cold, 

Pouit.s, Red deer pie, 



Peas, buttered, 

Mnde dish, 

Ducks, 

Gammon bacon. 

Red deer pie. 

Pigeons, 

Wild boar pie, 

Curlews, 

Neat's tongue tart, 

Dried hogs' cheek. 



MONDaY MORNING'S BREAKFAST. 



Pull.'ts, 

Boiled cnpon, 

Shoulder mutton, boiled, 

and one roasted, 
Roast veal. 
Boiled ducks. 
Pallets, 

Red deer pie, cold, 
Four roast capons, 
Poults, roast, 



Pheasants, 

Boiled chicken. 

Roast rabbits, 

Chine beef, roast, 

Herons, 

Boiled mutton, 

Wild boar pie, 

Jiffget of boiled mutton, 

Jigget of mutton, burred, 

Tarts, 



Venison pasty, 
A roast turkey, 
Roast pig, 
Roast venison, 
Chicken pie. 
Burred capon. 
Dried hogs' cheeks, 
Umble pie, 
Gammon bacon, 
Made dish. 



Chief cooks were, Messrs. Morris and Miller. 

Cooks for the pallets, John Clerk and John Bibby. 

Cooks for boiling, John Minyer and Williaoi Parkes. 

Cooks for roasting and baking, John Coleburne, Elias James, 
John Raikes, and A. Daman. 

Labourers for roasting and baking and for the pastries, J. 
Green, R. Blythe, W. Aldersey, and Alexander Cowper. 

I am surprised he did not knight all the cooks, for it was at 
this visit, which lasted for several days, that he knighted the 
loin of beef. 

He had presented to him, by the rustics, while he was out 
sporting in the park attached to this noble house, a petition^ pi'ay- 
ing them to be allowed to enjoy themselves on the Sabbath after 
church service, which was the origin of his celebrated Book of 
Sports ; which book was the cause of more preaching and 
scribbling than enough ; so that this visit is an important one 
in English history. See p. 234. 

But, reader, after reading over the list of nice things, did it 
3iot tend to make you break one of the commandments .? did 
not your appetite covet some of them ? For my part, when I 
first read the account, I remembered the old adage, that " eat- 
ing, like scratching, only wants a beginning," and I really wish- 
ed for one small slice out of the haunch of venison, and that 
^* my throat was a mile long, and every inch a palate." That 
wish by Dr. Kitchener, beats Philoxenus of old ; he only 
•• wis'ned to have the neck of a crane, that he might enjoy the 
taste of his aliments longer and with more pleasure." 

11* 



126 THE SOCIAL HISTOPY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

One thing cannot fail striking the attentive reader, viz., the 
small quantity of vegetables, and apparently little fruit either 
in pastry or as a desert. 

How they drank their wines or other liquors, I cannot inform 
the reader. Bat Dr. Whittaker, this county's historian, who 
died in 1821, says : " We are indebted to the French for the 
temperate elegance of drinking wine at dinner. Sixty years 
ago the Lancashire gentry used to go into their cellars and drink 
themselves drunk from the pipes." 

And now, by way of contrast, 1 will give Cromwell's style 
of living. A republican simplicity prevailed in the bancjuets 
at Whitehall during his administration, the plain fare of whose 
tables was the subject of many sneers among the luxurious 
loyal. An idea of his dinners may be formed by the following 
manner in which his lady baked a pig : " The carcass was in- 
cased in a coating of clay, like one of his own iron sides in his 
coat of mail, and in this state it was stew^ed among the hot ashes 
of the stoke-hole. Scotch collops also formed one of the stand- 
ing dishes of her cookery : we are informed that she ate marrow 
puddings at breakfast, while her youngest daughter delighted 
in a sausage made of hogs' liver."* Cromwell, with the sto- 
mach of a soldier, despised French and elaborate cooker}^ ; but 
at his state dinners he had them, yet they were mostly for show 
After his feasts there was much boisterous mirth and merriment, 
but more dignified and harmless, compared with the gross out- 
rages of the royal banquets of James, or the festivals of the 
cavaliers in the time of his unfortunate son. 

The city of London gave him and Fairfax a feast, which was 
all of a substantial character, suited to military appetites ; nc 
healths were drank, and the only music was trumpets and ket- 
tie-drums.! 

In the year 1661 there was a gathering of marquises, lords, 
knights, and squires, which took place at New^castle, to cele- 
brate an anniversary ; when, on account of the number of the 
guests, each was required to provide or bring his own dish of 
meat : this created competition. Sir George Goring's dish 
was received with most eclat : it consisted of four brawny 
pigs, piping hot, bitted and harnessed with cables of sausages, 
all tied to a monstrous pudding-bag. J 

Among other articles of cookery, they cooked snails, which 
were stewed or fried in a variety of ways, with oil, spices, wine, 
vinegar, and eggs; and the legs of frogs were dressed a la 
fricassee.^ 

Those who may be curious to know the recipes for cooking 

* Court and kitchen of Mrs. Joan Cromwell. t Whitelock. 

X Lodge's Illustrations. " ^ May. 



EATING AND ENTERTAINMENTS. 127 

fish, will find several varieties in the kind-hearted Isaac Wal- 
ton's book on angling. As none of them are so good as those 
novv'' in use, I have not thought proper to copy any of them. 

Pennant sa^'-s : " The shad, if stuffed with pot majoram, and 
dressed in that manner, will very nearly intoxicate the eater." 

In former days fennel was always boiled with fish : the com- 
mon dock was boiled with meat ; they had an opinion it made it 
boil sooner, and it was considered a v/holesome pot herb. The 
gathering of samphire, which was used as a pickle, was pursued 
as a " dreadful trade."* 

" The rolls of the Temples " are kept in each ; it is called 
the calves' head roll ; wherein every bencher, barrister, and stu- 
dent is taxed yearly at so much to the cook and other officers 
of the house, in consideration of a dinner of calves' head pro- 
vided in Easter term." 

I will give a method of making a herring pie, from a fashion- 
able cookery book of the time. " Take salt herrings, being well 
watered, wash them between your hands, and you shall loosen 
the fish from4he skin ; take off the skin whole ; then have a 
pound of almonde paste ready, mince the herrings, and stamp 
them with the almonde paste, two of the roes, five or six dates, 
some grated manchet, sugar, sack, rose water, and saffron ; make 
the composition somewhat stiff", and fill the skins ; put butter 
in the bottom of your pie, lay on the herrings, and on them 
dates, gooseberries, currants, barberries, and butter ; close it up 
and bake it ; being baked, liquify it with butter, vinegar, and 
sugar." 

Lord Bacon recommends, in eating chewets, which are minced 
meats, " instead of butter or fat, it were good to moisten them 
partly with creame, or*almonde or pistachio milke, or barley 
or maize creame." Such is a small sample of that celebrated 
noble as a gourmand. 

Tusser in the following verse describes their general feed : 

*' Beef, mutton, and porke, shred pies of the best, 
Pig, veal, goose, and capon, and turkie well drest ; 
Cheese, apples, and nuts, jolie carols to heare. 
As then in the countrie is counted good cheere." 

They had in general a three course dinner ; the second was 
always game when in season ; the third was confectionary, of 
which they were very fond, and their taste displayed itself here 
in the articles representing the heathen mythology, castles, or 
wind-mills ; so their teeth were dally exercised in some species 
of bloodless knight-errantry. Their dessert usually included a 
March pine, (a delicate sort of biscuit,) and a cake composed of 

* See Shakspeare's King Lear 



128 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

filberts, pistachio nuts, pine kernels, sugar, rose water, ana 
flour ; marmalades, pomegranetes, oranges, citrons, apples, 
pears, raisins, dates, nuts, grapes, &c. ; nor was any expense 
spared in procuring these foreign or home-reared dainties.* 

The first regular confectioner who settled in London was in 
1600 — Seignor Baltassir Sanchez, a Spaniard, who soon got rich 
and retired, and whose grateful and benevolent heart induced 
him to found Tottenham Cross school and alms-houses ; so he 
not only professed the sweets of life, but enjoyed them too, and 
did what he could to allow a small portion of others who came 
after him to do the same. 

" May his quiet soul sleep through a quiet fleep." 

Sir Samuel Morland, who was master mechanic to Charles 
II., had a portable cooking establishment fitted up in his 
carriage in 1675. 



CARVING. 



In former times there was an officer to carve the meat in 
all noble houses : he was an esquire in degree. 

In Scotland Sir William Anstruther, Bart., is hereditary 
carver, having the right of standing at a side-table to cut up 
the meat. 

The following extract is taken from the accomplished Lady 
Rich's " Closet of Rarities," 1653 : " Instructions to British 
ladies when at table. — A gentlewoman, being at table, abroad or 
at home, must observe to keep her body straight, and lean not 
by any means on her elbows, nor by ravenous gesture disclose 
a voracious appetite. Talke not when you have meate in j'^our 
mouthe, and do not smacke like a pig, nor eat spoone-meate 
so hot that the tears stand in your eyes. It is very uncourtly 
to drink so large a draughte that your breath is almost gone, 
and you are forced to blow strongly to recover yourself; throw- 
ing down your liquor as into a funnel, is an action fitter for a 
juggler than a gentlewoman. In carving at your own table, 
distribute the best pieces first ; it will appear very decent and 
comely to use a forke ; so touch no piece of meate without it." 

In the reign of Charles this accomplished art was taught at 
schools. Montaigne regretted he '^ could not handsomely fold 
up a letter, make a pen, saddle a horse, nor carve at table worth 
a pin." The polished Chesterfield recommends the knowledge 
of carving to his son. 

* Stubbs. 



EATING AND ENTERTAINMENTS. 129 

Many people are not aware of the use of knowing well the 
art of carving : by carving properl}'^, there may be found seven 
different flavours in a large shoulder of mutton. 

How gratifying must it be, when one has a small party of 
kind friends, to be able to reciprocate their kindness, by helping 
each one to those parts his or her palate iiiost approves of; 
when that can be done, as it always may be, if the person has 
the competent knowledge, and which is so easy to be acquired, 
the best books on the art of cookery having cuts to teach it. 
It gives the host many happy opportunities, by passing the 
compliment to each guest by asking the part he would like to 
partake of; to show some dexterity, and his or her good breeding 
in a very polite art ; and also of his or her assiduous attention 
to oblige, which marks the well-bred lady or gentleman, and is 
so easy a way of showing off his attention in these often- 
occurring periods of civilized life. 

This civility costs nothing, the joint of meat, or game, or 
poultry, or dish of fish having been provided and cooked ; the 
remaining part is only a little knowledge, which, by requisite 
attention, daily experience thrice repeated soon furnishes. 

How much more pleasant is it to reflect that you have 
gratified your friend's taste and palled his appetite with those 
parts he has most relished, instead of helping him to v.4iat he 
did not so well approve of, and those parts he would have 
relished with a higher goute^ given to the dogs or the cats ! 

But mark, reader, another point ; if you happen to know this 
very necessary and pleasing art, it shows at once your good 
breeding and station in society : you will find it also gives great 
hilarif.y to the passing scene. But if you do not know it 
previously, it cannot, at the time when most wanted, be taught 
you ; because jomv guest, seeing this deficiency, dare not ask 
for that he might desire, out of tenderness to you, he being 
aware it would expose your want of this necessary and ever- 
pleasing accomplishment ; which, as it adds to others' pleasure, 
like all other freely compounded, freely given, kind and warm- 
hearted off-handed civilities, adds largely to your own, and 
adds a double relish to the land repast. These are acts of 
kindness 

-That syllable men's names 



On sands, and shores, and desert wildernesses." Milton. 

The following excellent song was given to me many years 
past by a female cook of an old English family. The author 
she did not know. It was, 1 have no doubt, written in " the 
olden time." 



130 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

LINES ON DRESSING A SALAD. 

" The herbal savour gave his sense delight." — Quarles. 

** Two large potatoes, passed throngh kitchen sieve, 
Smoothness and softness to the salad give ; 
Of mordant mustard add a single spoon, 
Distrust the condiment that bites too soon ; 
But deem it not, thou man of herb, a fault, 
To add a double quantity of salt.* 

Four times the spoon with oil of Lucca crown, 
And twice with vinegar procured from town — 
True flavour'd mends it ; and your poet begs 
The pounded yellow of two boiled eggs. 

Let onions' atoms l-urk within the bowl, 
And, scarce suspected, animate the whole ; 
And lastly, in the flavour'd compound toss 
A magic spoonful of anchovy sauce. 

Oh, great and glorious ! oh, herbaceous treat ! 
'Twould tempt the dying anchorite to eat , 
Back to the world he'd turn his weary soul, 
And plunge his fingers in the salad bowl." 

To dry apples like Norfolk biffins. — Take small apples — the 
triie biilUiSs or orange or lemon.pippins, are the best — choose the 
clearest riaus and without bletiiishes, lay them on clean straw 
on a baking v/ire, cover tliem with more straw, set them into 
a slow oven, lei them remaiii for four or five hours ; draw them 
out and rub them in your bdads, and press them gently, other- 
wise you will bur8l the skhis ; return them into the oven for 
about one hour, and press them again when coid ; if they look 
dry, rub them over with a little clarified sugar ; by being put 
into the oven four or five times, and pressed properly every 
time, they will resemble Norfolk bitTins, and keep for a con- 
siderable time. 

To bake pears. — Take twelve large baking pears, pare and 
cut them into halves, take out the core with the point of a knife, 
and place them close together in a block tin saucepan, the cover 
to fit tight ; put to them the rind of a lemon cut fine, with half 
its juice, a small stick of cinnamon, and twenty grains of alspice, 
cover them with spring water, and allow one pound of loaf 
sugar to a pint of water ; cover them up close, and bake them 
for six hours in a very slow oven ; they will be quite tender, and 
of a bright colour. Prepared cochineal is generally used for 
colouring them ; but, if the above is strictly attended to, no 
preparation is required. 

* The Italians say, "In a salad well salted, put little vinegar, much oil." 



131 



DRINKING AND RECIPES. 

"While the Englishmen (he said) drank only ale, they were strong, 
brawny, able men, and could draw an arrow an ell long, (foity-five 
inches ;) but when they fell to wine and beer, they are found to be much 
impaired in their strength and age ; so the ale bore away the bell among 
the doctors." — Howell. 

At page 76 I alluded to English hospitality ; here will be a 
proper place to give an instance, and in that instance show what 
it really was. In the year 1136 the Bishop of Winchester 
founded an hospital, called Holy Cross, near that city, for thir- 
teen poor men who could not maintain themselves : their daily 
allowance was three and a quarter pounds of bread, and a gallon 
and a half of beer ; in addition to this, they had a flesh or fish 
dinner, as the calendar allowed, and a pittance or dessert ; also a 
dish of some sort of animal food for supper : they had also a 
mortrelj a sort of egg flip, made with milk and wastel-bread, or 
dainty cake, to help them through their beer. This was for 
those poor men who could not maintain themselves : it is, there- 
fore, right to presume these men were all of them past the 
meridian of life, except they might be maimed or otherwise 
bodily afflicted ; and, being founded by a bishop, and for chari- 
table purposes, it may be supposed he would not allow them 
too much, because he could have added to their number, and 
that would have been more kind than afflicting each with the 
daily task of eating and drinking too much. It may, therefore, 
be taken as what in those days was considered a temperate 
allowance for men who did not labour : this allowance for these 
thirteen poor men, I have no doubt, is much more than the 
average of any twenty hard working men at this time, even if 
in constant employ.* 

He also provided a noble hall in the same establishment, 

* The English have always been famous for good cheer. Hollingshed 
notices the comments of the Spaniards in Queen Mary's time, when they 
saw '* what large diet was used in their homelie cottages," and repeats 
what one of the Spaniards said : " Although these English have their houses 
of sticks and dirt, yet they fare commonlie as well as a king." 

That the style of living did not disagree, may be inferred from the 
following instances, which include both rich and poor, and are the oldest 
on record of any period. 

Thomas Parre, of Shropshire, died November 8th, 1635, aged 152. 

Henry Jenkins, of Yorkshire, died December 8th, 1670, aged 169. 

James Shands, of Staffordshire, died 1670, aged 140. 

The Countess of Desmond, aged 140, and the Countess of Eccleston, 
aged 143, both in Ireland, died about 1691. 

From Sir John Sinclair's work on " Health and Longevity," the only 
routine of life which the aged have pursued, and in which the majority 
agree, is in early rising. 



132 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

called the Hundred Men^s Hally in which one hundred more 
poor men of the city might go and dine daily gratis : their fare 
was a loaf of bread and three quarts of beer ; and what they 
could not eat, they could take away with them. 

This establishment is not quite perverted, but is much 
abridged ; and in whatever way the funds may be now applied, 
it is as Dr. Milner says, " the only vestige left of old English 
hospitality." 

In this hospital there is still an old leather jack, in which 
the beer has been drawn for many centuries. 

The general drink was ale ; but, nevertheless, they had wine 
of their own produce, for in " The Museum Rusticum " we are 
informed " that the country round Arundel, in Sussex, was 
covered with vineyards. In 1763 there were sixty pipes of 
wine in the cellars of that beautiful castle, made from the 
produce of that district, which resembled Burgundy." 

There are hundreds of places in England named after the 
vine, such as Vineyard-fields, Vineyard-lanes, i&c. The writer 
has drank, within the last twenty years, in the county of Kent, 
wine from the grape-vine grown round a paper-mill. 

He also once drank some strong and pleasant wine made 
from the wild hedge fruity sweetened with the honey from a 
cottage garden in Warwickshire. And there is a very potent 
wine for very cold weather, commonly made of the elderberries. 

Birch wine is made from the trees at Belper, in Derbyshire, 
in a similar manner as it may be made from the sap of the maple. 

Hollingshed mentions " that they drank in his time fifty-six 
sorts of French wines, and thirty-six sorts of Spanish and 
Italian, and mostly drank it spiced." 

Sack was eight pence a quart in Shakspeare's time. 

I find the English people scarcely drank anything nett ; there 
was often some sort of mixture ; even wine was mixed, as the 
following couplet will exemplify : 

" To allay the hardness of the wine, 
Let with old Bacchus new metheglin join." Dkyden. 

Metheglin or mead was much drank : Wales was celebrated 
for it. Queen Elizabeth had a quantity made there, expressly 
for her own drinking. 

In Scotland the Scots did not sweeten the wine like the Eng- 
lish, but with cemfits^ like the French. They drank more than 
the English, and preferred malmsey. They also drank much ale . 

The following is an extract from a letter from the Earl of 
Shrewsbury, dated 1569, to the Marquis of Winchester, about 
wine-drinking while he had the custody of the unfortunate 
Mary Queen of Scots • 



DRINJ(|iiNG AND RECIPES. 133 

" It may please you to understand that I have had a certain 
allowance for wine in my household without imposte. The 
charges that I do now sustain, and have done this yere, by 
reason of keeping the Queen of Scots, is so great, that I am 
compelled to be a suter unto you, that ye will have a friendly 
consideration. Truly, two tonnes a monthe have not hitherto 
sustained my ordinary. " This will show there was some pretty 
heavy drinking of the wine, because the greater part of the 
household would have ale. I should think there must be many 
daily " wine wise ;" that was the pretty saying they made use of 
when any one had had too much. 

The drinking of healths I believe to be a Danish custom. If 
the company consisted of twenty or thirty, it was expected that 
each should drink healths in rotation ; and if an absent or favou- 
rite lady or patron, their healths were to be drank on the knees. 

In those exciting times toasts could not but be often offensive 
to some, which led to angry discussions and duels. 

Drunkenness was the prevailing vice all over the country. 
Breton, a writer of this time, quaintly observes : " A drunken 
man is a noun adjective, for he cannot stand alone by himself." 
The nation must, then, be in a pretty rolling condition ; for it 
appears all the verbs were sots, and could lend them but a 
staggering support. 

But ale was the principal beverage ; and the Dutch have 
raised the following quaint query upon the subject of drinking 
too much : 

As dat beer is in de man, ) ( When the beer is in the man, 
Is de wyshel in de can ] J ^' ( Is the wisdom in the can 1 

The solving of this question I shall leave to some ingenious 
casuist — one who has a mind of that cast that can 



■Sever and divide 



A hair 'twixt north and north-west side." Hudibras. 

The intemperate should recollect the following French 
maxim : 

"Two things a drunkard doth disclose — 
A crimson phiz and pimpled nose." 

In the town of Nottingham there was a publican of the name 
of Littlejohn, who put up over his door the sign of Robin 
Hood and the following four witty lines : 

"All ye that relish ale that's good, 
Come in and drink with Robin Hood; 
If Robin Hood is not at home, 
Come in and drink with Littlejohn." 
12 



184 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF ^EAT BRITAIN. 

But Mr. Littlejohn, in the due course of time, like all other 
men, paid the debt of nature. His successor thought it a pity to 
lose so good a sign and such good tap-room poetry ; so, with a 
little ingenious poetic alteration, he substituted his own name, 
as follows : 

" All ye that relish ale that's good, 
Come in and drink with Robin Hood ; 
If Robin Hood is not at home, 
Come in and drink with Samuel Johnson." 

Goldsmith had such a house as this upon his mind when he 
wrote 

" Where village statesmen talk'd with looks profound, 
And news much older than the ale went round," 

amid murky clouds of best Virginia. 

In some districts, as is now the case, cider was a common 
beverage. Drayton thus mentions it: 

" Spiced syllabubs, and cider of the best. 
And to the same down solemnly they sat." 

The renowned city of Oxford is famous for a drink called an 
Oxford night-cap, which one of that learned body of men in 
the olden time has thus given his reasons for drinking : 

'* Three cups of this a prudent man may take — 
The first of them for constitution sake ; 
The second to the lady he loves best ; 
The third, and last, to lull him to his rest." 

I hope, therefore, it will not be imprudent in me to give the 
recipe for making it. The above orthodox authority must 
be undeniable. 

Make several incisions in the rind of a lemon, stick cloves in 
them, and roast by a slow fire ; put equal quantities of cinna- 
mon, mace, and alspice, with a race of ginger, into a saucepan, 
with half a pint of water ; simmer till reduced half the quantity. 
Boil one bottle of port wine, burn a portion of the spirit out by 
applying a lighted piece of paper to the saucepan ; put the 
roasted lemon and spice into the wine, stir it up, and let it stand 
near the fire ten minutes ; rub a few nobs of white sugar on the 
rind of a lemon, put the sugar into a jug with the juice of a raw 
lemon, pour the wine upon it, grate some nutmeg into it, and 
sweeten to your taste : serve it up with the lemon floating at top. 

Some use Burgundy wine mulled, and call it bishop or a 
comforter. 

If with old Rhenish port, it is called cardinal ; but if with 
Tokay, it is called pope. 



DRINKING AND RECIPES 135 

Hippocras was a wedding beverage, made of red wine, spices, 
and sugar, stirred witli sprigs of rosemary. 

Another favourite drink was called " rumfustian :" it was 
made the same as the night-cap, except there were added the 
yolks of twelve eggs, a quart of home-brewed beer, a bottle of 
white wine, half a pint of gin, some grated nutmeg, the juice 
from orange peelings, and then cinnamon and sugar quantum 
sufficit for the palate. This was drank in such weather as 
Lord Byron did not like — " mists, thaws, slops, or rain." 

Another drink was called Brown Betty. Dissolve one pound 
of brown sugar in a pint of water, slice a lemon in it, and let 
it stand half an hour ; add pounded cloves and cinnamon, half 
a pint of brandy, and one quart of strong ale ; stir all together, 
put a couple of slices of toast in it, toasted quite brown, with 
some grated nutmeg and ginger on each slice. In the summer 
this should be iced ; in the winter, warmed. The drinking of 
it may be said " to be putting the piquant damsel into a warm- 
ed bed." 

They had also a favourite drink called a cool tankard. A 
gallon of old ale, into which put the following herbs, agreeable 
to your taste: balm, hyssop, old man or southern wood, with 
nutmeg and sugar ; let it stand some time, covered up. 

Sometimes it is made with port, sherry, or Madeira wine, 
instead of the ale. Before drinking, it was always stirred 
up with a sprig of rosemary : this herb was symbolic of remem- 
brance. Each person always drank out of the same tankard, 
a noble vessel of either gold or silver, with a chased lid, and 
always held a full quart ; and sometimes there would be pegs 
sticking out in the inside, to regulate the draught. 

Even in the ordinary country farm-houses toast and ale was 
sure to be introduced at Christmas. This is made with full 
rounds of a loaf toasted quite brown, (but not burnt,) each slice 
powdered over with spice and brown sugar, put into a large 
bowl, and that filled with some good home-brewed ale. 

The following is the celebrated Dr. Aldrich's five reasons for 
drinking, paraphrased from " aut vini bonitus qui alteri causa :" 

" If on my theme I rightly think, 
There are five reasons why men drink ; 
Good wine, a friend, because I'm dry, 
Or lest I should be by and by, 
Or any other reason why." 

This learned gentleman was dean of Christ church, Oxford, 
in 1587. 

To make a quart of curogoa. — To a pint of the clearest and 
strongest rectified spirits add two and a half drachms of the sweet 
oil of orange peel, and shake it up ; dissolve a pound of good 



136 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN- 

lum]) sugar in a pint of cold water, and make this into a clarified 
syrup, which add to the spirits ; shake it up and let it stand until 
the following day : then line a funnel with thin muslin, and 
line that with filtering paper, and filter it two or three times, or 
until it is quite bright. 

This liquor is a very desirable cordial ; and a tea-spoonful in 
a tumbler of water is a very refreshing summer drink, and a 
great improvement to punch. 

Capillaire. — To a pint of clarified syrup add a w^ine-glassful 
of curogoa ; or dissolve one drachm of oil of neroli in two ounces 
of rectified syrup, and add a few drops of it to clarified syrup. 

Lemonade in a minute. — Pound a quarter of an ounce of citric 
acid with a few^ drops of quintessence of lemon peel, and mix 
it by degrees with a pint of clarified syrup or capillaire. 

About the end of the century sherbet was much used, which 
is a most delightful cooling summer drink ; and as it is a very 
proper summer one for this Union, 1 feel pleasure in giving some 
good recipes to make it. 

Nine Seville oranges and three lemons, grate off the yellow 
from the rinds, and put these raspings into a gallon of water, 
with five pounds of double refined sugar, and boil to a candy 
height ; then take it off the fire and add pulps of oranges and 
lemons ; keep stirring it till cool ; then strain it off and put into 
a vessel for use. This may be iced, and flavoured with thyme, 
mint, sage, or rosemary. 

Another method of making sherbet consists of water, lemon 
or orange juice, in which are dissolved perfumed cake.s made 
of the best Damascus fruits, and containing also an iiAfusion of 
rose water. Another is made of violets, honey, juice of raisins, 
&c. These are all delightful summer drinks. Lord Byron, 
in a letter to Tom Moore, says : 

" Give me a srun, I care not how hot, 
And sherbet to drink, I care not how cool, 

and my heaven is as easily made as your Persian," which 
Moore had thus described : 

*' A Persian's heaven is easily made ; 
'Tis but black eyes and lemonade." 

Drinking glasses and decanters were introduced in 1577 J 
and soon enough was manufactured for the home consumption, 
beautifully enamelled, cut, and inlaid with heraldric, hunting, 
and other subjects. 

But in the servants' halls of gentlemen's mansions the ale fo1f 
the servants is drawn in leathern-jacks, like engine fire-buckets, 
and they drink it out of horns, which hold a pint each. This 
saves a considerable sum yearly in crockery and glass. 



137 
CONTRAST OF THE TWO LEADING PARTIES. 

" Party is the madness of many for the gain of a few." 

It is worthy of our particular remark, and may, I hope, 
serve as a useful lesson to future reformers, who may be very 
praiseworthily and zealously inclined to effect judicious reforms 
in society. To show, however, how much a spirit of mere con- 
tradiction will do, witness the Puritan party, who were always 
a minority, speaking of them numerically ; but in moral effect 
they were a host ; and, had their system been offered in many 
cases in a more captivating form, they would have effected 
much more than they did. Their conduct puts one forcibly in 
mind of a witty satirist's description of that useful animal, the 
swine : 

" Try but to drive a pig against his will, 
Behold, the sturdy gentleman stands still ; 
Or else, his independent soul to show, 
Gallops the very road he should not go." 

The Puritan, from what he considered his religious principles, 
was, and must be, a stiff and rigid personage ; and must hold 
in contempt all the kind-hearted temperings which were reck- 
oned among the mellowing influences of human life. 

In 1644 the Puritan parliament established the directory, and 
not onlj'' abolished the book of common prayer, but voted the 
creed, the Lord's prayer, and the ten commandments useless. 

They affected a slow and drawling speech and tone, which 
degenerated into a snuffle or " sweet nasal twang ;" while their 
talk was liberally checkered over with the most ordinary texts 
of Scripture. In their dealings they would say, ^' It is naught, 
it is naught, saith the buyer ; and when he is gone away, then 
he boasteth." When they rebuked a talkative person, they 
would say, " In all labour there is profit, but the talk of the 
lips tendeth to penury." If you meddled with any of their 
articles of trade, they would say, " Touch not, taste not, handle 
not," without you mean to buy. 

They were very fond of Scriptural mottoes. One which be- 
came so perfectly perverted as to be now scarcely recognised, 
was, " God encompasseth us." 

They also gave, as a first name to their children, biblical 
names expressive of some Christian quality which they reli- 
giously approved, and which they very properly and as piously 
wished their children to follow out ; and being, as it were, thus 
ingrafted upon them, would undoubtedly tend to produce such 
an effect upon their daily conduct. 

12* 



138 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

In the beginning of the civil wars each regiment of the par- 
liamentary army, v/hich mainly consisted of Puritans, had a 
regular chaplain ; but the pious personage did not long renrjain 
with it : no doubt he considered that such conduct was not 
agreeable or consistent with his calling ; so that, soon after the 
battle of Edge Hill, every soldier had his bible, and became his 
own priest or DD., which produced every species of profanity 
that can be imagined. 

In the year 1649 Cromwell and his military officers prayed 
and preached in the churches. 

If a Puritanical soldier did not growl psalms, whistle ser- 
mons, or act some audacious religious caper, he was looked 
upon as bad as a coward. 

But the Puritans who v/ere not engaged in the " dreadful 
battle's strife," piously endeavoured to draw a solace to their 
common labours by making their religion furnish it. But this, 
unfortunately, called into play every sort of extravagance that 
could be thought of by the most excited fanatical preachers of 
the day. 

Their sermons were often the most 
perverted and their text the most odd 
that could be selected ; and their pulpit 
conduct as ridiculously conspicuous as 
could be acted. I forbear giving nume- 
rous historical instances ; sorry should I 
be to add one pang of grief to any seri- 
ous religious person, or excite the blas- 
phemous merriment of the thoughtless 
scoffer. 

Let us, by all the holy considerations 
of Christian charity, draw the veil of 
obscurity over their errors ; at this dis- 
tance of time the worst of them may be 
" forgotten as fools, or remembered a^ 
worse." 

In their dress they choose all sorts of 
plain sad colours, to show a demureness 
in feeling and a penury of cut. A modern 
political writer has observed of the So- 
ciety of Friends, " That if their taste 
could have been consulted at the crea- 
tion, what a silent and drab-coloured 
creation it would have been ; not a flower 
would have blossomed its gayeties, nor Oliverian or Puritan. 
a bird been permitted to sing." A ruddy cheek would make 
a Puritan start with horror ; so that they did all they could to 




CONTRAST OF THE TWO LEADING PARTIES. 139 

expose the whole paleness of their ghastly countenances, and 
went about clean shaved, with their hair closely cut. 

They also discountenanced nearly all sorts of diversions, in- 
doors and out. Drinking healths met with their most loving ^ 
most charitable^ and most unqualified condemnation. 

At first the Society of Friends, which commenced with 
George Fox, who began to travel and preach in 1643, were 
very turbulent ; they went into the churches, which they in- 
sultingly called " steeple-houses :" they did not (though they 
were great bible readers) follow the first book of Thessalonians, 
fourth chapter, verse eleventh. 

I give the following anecdote from the biography of John 
Eunyan : " A Friend visited him in Bedford jail, and declared 
* that, by the order of the Lord, he had sought for him in half 
the prisons in England.' Bunyan replied, 'If the Lord has 
sent you, you need not have taken so much trouble to find me 
out, for the Lord knows I have been a prisoner in Bedford jail 
for the last twelve years ' 

The Cavalier, to show his perfect contempt both for the prin- 
ciples and professions of the Puritans, exhibited a perfect levity 
and recklessness in contrast, which served to provoke the dis- 
gust and demureness of his better-intentioned antagonist. 

'' Thus their actions are contrary, 
Just as votes and speeches vary." Hudibras. 

The gay, the gaudy, the ermined, the jewelled cavalier studied 
all his powers would essay, to have everything that could be 
produced by land or by sea, to gratify this feeling of bitter con- 
tradiction. 

At the restoration, on the day of the arrival of Charles II., 
the people had become so tired of the gloom and constraint of 
the Puritans, that they lighted bon-fires, rung the bells many 
a long, merry peal, paraded the streets, and broke the windows 
of the " praise God bare-bones " people, set up their old May- 
poles, roasted sheep, drank the king's health upon their knees, 
and made Monk's soldiers reeling drunk for several days. 

Swearing under the Puritans had been very properly pro- 
hibited by a fine ; and now, to show their contempt for every- 
thing of that cold, disdainful sect, they swore the faster ; so 
that it became a common saying, that such a one swore to the 
tune of iS2000 per year :* while Buckingham, Rochester, 
Sedley, and their associates, fearless of common decency, laugh- 
ed at the fopperies of the clergy, and made lampoons and 
drolleries of the Sacred Scriptures. 

• Dryden's '« Wild Gallant." 



140 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

The conduct of this party was of the most fulsome, nause- 
ous, and slavish description. The Almighty, the church, and 
the king were the new Trinity now worshipped ; and I am sorry 
to say it is difficult to state which of these divinities were 
most gloritied : thus 

*' The mind of mortals, in perverseness strong, 
Imbibes witii dire docility the wrong." Juvenal. 

Notwithstanding the frivolity of the high-born, full-blooded 
cavalier, the bulk of the community still retained much of the 
good old English spirit. 

There were many of the royalists who steadily exhibited 
the best days of Queen Elizabeth : they adhered to the primitive 
hours under all circumstances ; and used the old fare at table, 
notwithstanding the introduction of French cookery. Before 
they attended to the regular affairs of the day, they went to 
their tavern or ale-house, and took their " morning," which 
consisted of a cup of ale or wine ; when business was over, 
they attended their club or coffee-house, where they discussed 
on religion, politics, or literature. 

Tea, coffee, and chocolate were now first introduced. Accord- 
ing to Dryden's " Wild Gallant," they began to be relished as 
a morning draught by those who had been guilty of excessive 
drinking on the over-night ; and they superseded those fiery 
liquors that had hitherto accompanied every meal. Thus arose 
the ever-reviving, ever-pleasant social tea-table. 

If such remains of simplicity kept its ground in London in 
spite of so much evil example on one side, and too stiff a 
rigidit^^ on the other always exhibited there, we must not 
wonder it was still more plentiful in the country. The baronial 
table was still, as it ought ever to have been, heart of oak, 
heavily laden with cheerful festivity ; and the huge sirloins and 
lusty plum-puddings smoked to scorn every effort of French 
cookery of fashionable London. 

The country squires still gave their tenants their annual 
feasts at their own houses, and kept up the natural tie still free, 
yet friendly and unbroken ; so that it was a sort of politico 
family relationship ; while the happy farmer, so well described 
by Cowper as 

" An honest man, close button'd to the chin, 
Broadcloth without, and a warm heart within," 

gave his jovial sheep-sheerings, harvest suppers, and other set 
feasts to his workmen and attendants. 

These happy, these soul-enlivening, these heart-cheering 
feasts are all faithfully depicted in the old playsy which, when 



CLUES. 141 

now brought forward, are only intended to excite ridicule. 
Whereas every Englishman ought to blush with shame to 
think that he has most slavishly suffered himself to be robbed 
of the means by the never-ceasing tax-gatherer^ which now 
prevents him from doing exactly the same. 



CLUBS. 

After the restoration of Charles II. came forth political 
clubs, for politics now were the great excitement ; and here 
came extravagances of another description, equally turbulent 
and equally as base. They met at coffee-houses ; and, as there 
must be at least two or more parties, each having its idols or 
factions, to prevent them from coming in open contact with 
each other, and having street scuffles, they wore ribands in 
their hats, to mark the distinction. One party wore green 
ribands, and was called the green riband club.*" 

In Dryden's time he thus notices clubs : " I would ask you 
one civil question ; what right has any man among you, or any 
association of men, (to come nearer to you,) who out of parlia- 
ment cannot be considered in a public capacity, to meet, as you 
daily do, in factious clubs, to vilifie the government in your 
discourses and to libel it in all your writings .?" 

Otway thus advises : 

" Avoid the politic, the factious fool, 
The busy, buzzing, talking, hardened knave ; 
The quaint smooth rogue, that sins against his reason, 
Calls saucy loud sedition public zeal. 
And mutiny the dictates of his spirit." 

In fact, one would suppose that once " merry<^nglande," 
according to the diarists and the tracts of the times, was become 
a grand den of madmen all let loose, with some mischief-making 
demon always hurling in the air some new foot-ball to be 
scuffled and scrambled for. 

How true is the following remark of Bolingbroke : " There 
is a time when factions, by their vehemence, stun and disable 
one another.'* 



WHIG AND TORY. 

In 1679, according to Roger North, Tory had the start. It 
was applied to the Duke of York's friends : they were called at 

* Pepys' Diary. 



142 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

first Yorkists, but that did not scandalize enough. Then came 
Tantivy, which implied riding post to Rome. Observing that 
the duke favoured Irishmen, all his friends were called Irish, 
or wild Irish, or bog-trotters ; then Tory, which signified the 
most despicable savage among them ; and, it being a round and 
clear-sounding word, it kept its hold. 

After beating about for an opposite word, True Blues, Bru- 
mingam Protestants, (alluding to forged groats,) they hit upon 
Whig, which was very significant and vernacular in Scotland, 
meaning corrupt whey ; that ran like wild-fire, and ran up a 
sharp score on the other side.''^ 

At the revolution of 1688, Whig meant one who approved the 
setting aside King James II. and his heirs. At the American 
independence, in 1776, Whig meant setting aside George III- 
and his heirs for ever. 

The following account of these parties and their places of 
meeting is from a late number of the " Gentleman's Magazine,'' 
which brings their history down to the close of the reign of 
the Stuarts : 

" Among the most famous subscription coffee-houses of the 
olden time were Tom's and Will's, both in the neighbourhood 
of the theatres, of which we meet with the following curious 
notice in ' Mackay's Journey through England,' published in 
1724 : ' This amusing depicter of the manners of that period 
was lodged in Pall Mall, the ordinary residence of all strangers, 
because of its vicinity to the king's palace, the park, the parlia- 
ment house, the theatres, and the chocolate and coffee houses, 
where the best company frequent. If you would know our 
manner of living, it is this : We rise by nine ; and those who 
frequent great men's levees, find entertainment till eleven, or, 
as in Holland, go to tea-tables. About twelve the beau-monde 
assembles i^several chocolate and coffee houses ; the best 
of which are the Cocoa Tree, White's chocolate houses, St. 
James's, the Smyrna, and the British coffee houses, all of which 
are so near one another that in less than an hour you see the 
company of them all. We are carried to these places in sedan- 
chairs, which are here very cheap — a guinea a week, or a 
shilling per hour ; and your chairmen serve you for porters to 
run on errands, as your gondoliers do at Venice. If it be fine 
weather, we take a turn or two in the park till two, when we 
go to dinner ; and if it be dirty, you are entertained at piquet 
or basset at White's, or you may talk politics at the Smyrna 
or St. James's. I must not forget to tell you that the parties 
have their different places, where, however, a stranger is always 
well received ; but a Whig will no more go to the Cocoa Tree 

* Examen. 



DUELS. 143 

or Orinda's, than a Tory will be seen at the coffee-house of St. 
James's. The Scots gO generally to the British, and a mixture 
of all sorts to the Smyrna. There are other little coffee-houses 
much frequented in this neighbourhood. Young Man's, for 
officers ; Old Man's, for stock-jobbers, paymasters, and cour- 
tiers ; and Little Man's, for sharpers.' In another place some 
account is given of the most important of * an infinity of clubs, 
or societies for the improvement of learning, and keeping up 
good humour and mirth ;' as the Kit-catt, the Hanover, the 
October, and the several mug-house clubs. 

" After the pla3^s, the best company generally go to Tom's 
and Will's, near adjoining, vi^here there is playing at piquet, 
and the best of conversation, till midnight. Here you will see 
blue and green ribands and stars sitting familiarly M^ith private 
gentlemen, and talking with the same freedom as if they had 
left their qualit}?- and degrees of distance at home ; and a stranger 
tastes with pleasure the universal liberty of speech of the English 
nation. Or, if you like rather the company of ladies, there 
are assemblies at most people of qualities' houses. In all the 
coffee-houses you have not only the foreign prints, but several 
English ones with the foreign occurrences, besides papers of 
morality and party disputes. 

" Tom's coffee-house, No. 17 Great Russell-street, Covent 
Garden, was well known in 1713. There is now in existence 
two of the old card-tables, of plain solid mahogany, covered 
v/ith green baize, the pools being marked off by green tape at 
the corners. On the hearth-stone of the fire-place is a deep 
indentation, worn, if not like the steps of Becket's shrine at 
Canterbury, by the devotees themselves, yet by their faithful 
and ever-attendant minister, who watched the happy moments 
when the bul)bling coffee and the simmering chocolate had 
arrived at that state which rendered them most palatable and 
acceptable."* 



DUELS. 

'* Embrace, embrace, my sons ! be foes no more, 
Nor glad vile Jacobins with patriot gore !" 

When the lance and the battle-axe v/ere laid aside, the rapier 
and dagger came into use in the reign before this ; and the 
duello, or modern duel, now became the customary mode of 

* Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xvi. 



144 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

deciding the differences among gentlemen. In these encoun- 
ters, which, as at present, arose not only out of private and 
personal quarrels, but also out of the great exciting public ques- 
tions of the day, it would sometimes happen that the parties, 
though of high rank, belaboured each other stoutly with cudgels 
before proceeding to more knightly extremities. But even in 
the regular duel it was not unusual for unfair advantages of 
various kinds to be attempted to be taken by one or both parties, 
till the practice of appointing seconds in all cases was resorted 
to, in order to guard against such treacheries. Combatants 
also, before they encountered, sometimes searched each others' 
clothes, or, for better assurance, stripped and fought in their 
shirts. 

Yet, when a duel was a grave and premeditated affair, and 
between men of nice honour and punctilio, the stately ceremo- 
nials of ancient chivalry were carefully observed. If the cha- 
lenge was delivered orally, it was with hat in hand, profound 
congees, and fervent protestations of respect ; and if by letter, 
the length of the chalenger's sword was specified and the 
terms of the combat prescribed. If the party chalenged de- 
murred at the invitation, the bearer gravely stuck the cartel 
upon the point of his sheathed rapier, and again tendered it ; but 
if it was still refused, the weapon was gradually lowered, until 
the paper fell at the recusant's feet.* James, in his character 
of peace-maker, (and herein he deserves great praise,) found 
ample employment in composing the quarrels or preventing the 
duels of his nobles and courtiers. When the civil war broke 
out, there was fighting enough ; and when that was over, the 
parliament put a final stop to it for a period. They were 
obliged, by law, to consider the maxim of Terence : " The fall- 
ing out of faithful friends, the renewing is of friendship ;" and 
thus they composed their difficulties for a time. 

In 1654 there were laws against duels, (and prohibiting cock- 
fighting matches ;) duellists were to be imprisoned six months, 
and find bonds for good behaviour for one year after. 

When the profligate, Charles II., came, and had innoculated 
with fresh virus the still dormant licentiousness, no wonder 
that the cruel and reckless duelling again sprouted forth. 

Perhaps one of the most reckless instances ever on record 
was perpetrated during this reign : it was the duel fought by 
the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Shrewsbury. The 
vile duke, having wounded the earl in " that nice point " which 
none but wittols quietly bear, encountered off-hand, and slew 
the earl ; the viler countess standing by, disguised as a page, and 
holding the horse of her paramour, after whose fall she wel- 
* Life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury. 



DUELS. 145 

corned, with an unblushing face and open arms, the unbloody, 
blood-stained murderer of her husband. Well has it been said, 
" that in hatred, as in love, woman knows no measure." 

" Though equal pains her peace of mind destroy, 
A husband's torments gave her spiteful joy." 

I will give another case from the descriptive Pepys, in his 
own words : " Here Creed did tell us," he says, '^ the story of 
the duel last night in Covent Garden, between Sir H. Bellasis 
and Tom Porter. It is worth remembering the silliness of the 
quarrel, and is a kind of emblem of the general complexion of 
this whole kingdom. The two dined yesterday at Sir Robert 
Carr's, where, it appears, people do drink high, all that come. 
It happened that these two, the greatest friends in the world, 
were talking together ; and Sir H. Bellasis talked a little louder 
than ordinary to Tom Porter, giving of him some advice . Some 
of the company, standing by, said, ' What, are they quarrelling, 
that they talk so high P Sir H. Bellasis, hearing it, said, ' No ; 
I would have you know I never quarrel, but I strike ; and take 
that as a rule of mine !' ' How ! ' said Tom Porter ; ' strike ! I 
would I could see the man in England that durst give me a 
blow !' With that. Sir H. Bellasis did give him a box of the 
ear, and so they were going to fight there, but were hindered. 
By and by Tom Porter went out, and, meeting Dryden the 
poet, told him the business, and that he was resolved to fight 
Sir H. Bellasis presently — for he knew that if they did not, 
they should be friends to-morrow, and then the blow would rest 
upon him, which he would prevent — and desired Dryden to let 
him have his boy to bring him notice which way Sir H. Bellasis 
goes. By and by he is informed that Sir H. Bellasis's coach 
was coming ; so Tom Porter went down out of the coffee-house, 
where he stayed for the tidings, and stopped the coach, and 
bade Sir H. Bellasis come out. ' Why,' says Bellasis, ' you will 
not hurt me coming out, will you .'^ ' No,' said Tom Porter ; so 
out he went, and both drew ; and Bellasis, having drawn, flung 
away his scabbard. Tom Porter asked him whether he was 
ready ; the other answering he was, they fell to fight, some of 
their acquaintances being by. They wounded one another, 
and Bellasis so much that it is feared he will die ; and, finding 
himself severely wounded, he called to Tom Porter and kissed 
him, and bade him shift for himself; ^ For,' said he, ' Tom, thou 
hast hurt me, but I will make shift to stand on my legs till 
thou mayest withdraw, and the world will not take notice of 
you, for I would not have thee troubled for what thou hast 
done.' And so, whether he did fly or not, I cannot tell ; but 
Tom Porter showed Bellasis that he was wounded too, and 

13 



146 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

they are both very ill ; but Bellasis to fear of life." He died 
ten'days after, lamentably illustrating the following two lines : 

" He strives for trifles, and for toys contends, 
And then in earnest what he says defends." 

There was also another singular duel, and with a very singu- 
lar character — the celebrated dwarf, Jeffrey Hudson, who, when 
seven years old, was scarcely eighteen inches high. He was 
once served up to Charles I. in a cold pie. 

In the civil wars this tiny man was a captain of horse, and, 
after that monarch's death, accompanied the queen to France. 
While there, he had the misfortune to get into a dispute with 
Mr. Crofts, a brother of Lord Crofts, who, accounting him an 
object, not of anger, but of contempt, accepted the chalenge to 
fight a duel, yet coming armed only with a squirt. This little 
creature was so enraged — for he came " big with daring deter- 
mination," — that a real duel ensued ; and, the appointment being 
on horseback, with pistols, Jeffrey, with his first shot, killed his 
antagonist. He died in 1632, and was only three feet nine 
inches in height. 

This little object felt in full force the dire effects of his pug- 
nacity, so well expressed in the following lines on boxing, by 
Anstey : 

"Now, fighting is itself an action 
That gives both parties satisfaction , 
A secret joy the bruiser knows, 
In giving and receiving blows ; 
A nameless pleasure, only tasted 
By those who've thoroughly been basted." 

Lord Byron says : " Assassination is the origin of duelling 
and wild justice, as Lord Bacon calls it. It is the fount of the 
modern point of honour : is what the laws cannot or will not 
reach. Every man is liable to it more or less, according to 
circumstance or place." 

These affairs were, until lately, settled with swords. The 
duels in which the brilliant Sheridan was engaged in 1772, in 
consequence of his marriage with Miss Linley, who, according 
to Bishop Jackson, of Exeter, " seemed to him the connecting 
link between woman and angel,"* were with swords, though 
they had pistols. 

* Mrs. Sheridan's singing was so beautiful, it was likened to Egyptian 
enbalming, " extracting the brain through the ear." 

" None knew her hut to love ber. 
None narred her but to praise." 



147 -r| 



TEA, COFFEE, AND CHOCOLATE. 

" — Grin, and give ye, for the vine's pure blood, 
A loathsome potion not j'et understood — 
Syrop of soot, or essence of old shoes, 
Dash't with diurnals and the books of news." 1663. 

These articles, which now form so important a part of com- 
merce, are all of modern introduction into Europe. Which of 
them were first introduced, or whether the English, Dutch, 
or Spaniards first introduced them, are questions difficult to 
solve. 

They may be considered as novelties of the seventeenth 
century, and speedily engaged the pens of various writers, who 
seem to have been in great consternation on their account 
Few articles have produced such great changes as these in the 
domestic family arrangement — such as the immense amount of 
money constantly in circulation in purchasing the articles to 
be consumed, and the various tackling to prepare them. The 
social tea-table is a marked feature of the present age, where 
fly the jokes and jibes of all parties, all ages, sexes, sizes, and 
conditions. Here may often be heard the counsels of wisdom, 
putting one in mind of the xxv. chap, of Proverbs, ver. 1,2 : 
" As an ear-ring of gold and an ornament of fine gold, so is a 
wise reprover upon an obedient ear." But sometimes is it also 
the medium of scandal ; which reminds one " that a froward 
man soweth strife, and a whisperer separateth chief friends." 

" Again, some friend is a companion at thy table, but will not 
continue in the days of thy affliction." Eccles. 6 : 10. 

I have often thought that our tea-cups, saucers, dishes, and 
plates might easily be turned into the means of imparting much 
mstruction, if a judicious selection of these divine maxims 
^were imprinted on them ; and thus might the art of lettering 
and gilding, in the language of Roscommon, '' be mixed with 
profit and delight." 

From D'Israeli and others I learn that John Bull's govern- 
ment soon turned tea, coflee, and chocolate to account, by enu- 
merating them among other articles in the excise acts. About 
1660, every gallon of coffee paid four pence ; every gallon of 
tea, chocolate, and sherbet, eight pence ; and these sums were 
levied on the makers. Pepys, in his Diary, 25th September, 
;1661, writes : " I sent for a cup of tea, a Chinese drink I never 
drank before." Queen Catherine, according to Waller the poet, 
brought it into fashion in 1662. In 1664 the East India Com- 
pany I'-ould only procure two pounds two ounces, at the cost of 
forty shillings the pound. In 1666 they paid fifty shillings per 



148 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

pound for twenty-two pounds and three-quarters. In 1669 their 
own importation was one canister, of I43^1bs., from Bantam: 
they had it only second hand for some time. After the revo- 
lution, tea became common. Thus " the progress of this 
famous plant has been somewhat like the progress of truth ; 
suspected at first, though very palatable to those who had the 
courage to taste it ; resisted, as it encroached ; abused, as its 
popularity seemed to spread ; and establishing its triumph at 
last in cheering the whole land, from the palace to the cottage, 
only by the slow and resistless efforts of time and its own 
virtues."* — Edinborough Review. 

Thomas Garway, in Exchange-alley, Cornhill, tobacconist 
and coffee man, was the first who sold and retailed tea., recom- 
mending it for the cure of all disorders. The following is his 
shop-bill : 

" Tea in England hath been sold, in the leaf, for six pounds, 
and sometimes for ten pounds, the pound weight ; and, in respect 
of its former scarceness and dearness, it hath been only used as a 
regalia in high treatments and entertainments, and presents made 
thereof to princes and grandees, till the year 1657. The said 
Garway did purchase a quantity thereof, and first publicly sold 
the said tea in leaf or drink., made according to the directions 
of the most knowing merchants trading into those eastern 
countries. On the knowledge of the said Garway's continued 
care and indus-try in obtaining the best tea, and making drink 
thereof, very many noblemen, physicians, merchants, &c., have 
ever since sent to him for the said leaf, and daily resort to his 
house to drink thereof. He sells tea from \Qs. to 505. a pound." 
From the prices, it is supposed this bill was issued in 1660. 

In the year 1652 an English Turkish merchant brought a 
Greek slave to London, who taught the art of roasting coffee, 
and put forth the following hand-bill : 

" The vertue of the coffee drink, first publiquely made and 
sold in England by Pasqua Rosee, in St. MichaePs-alley, 
Cornhill, at the sign of his own head." 

In the " Women's petition against coffee," 1674, they com- 
plained that " it made men as unfruitful as the deserts whence 
that unhappy berry is said to be brought : that the offspring of 
our mighty ancestors would dwindle into a succession of apes 
and pigmies ; and, on a domestic message, husbands would stop 
hy the way to drink a couple of cups of coffee." 

The chocolate was brought from Mexico, where it was called 
chocollatti : it was a coarse mixture of ground cacao and 
Indian corn with rocou ; but the Spaniards, liking its nourish- 

* It now takes sixty millions of pounds to supply Europe and America. 
In 1700 the English had a factory at Chusan. App. xiy. 



TEA, COFFEE, AND CHOCOLATE 149 

ment, Improved it into a richer compound, with sugar, vanilla, 
and other aromatics. 

These articles were the means of causing the resort of people 
to coifee-hoases ; and, when so met, in those exciting times of 
religious and political discussions, they soon attracted the 
notice of the government, as well as different party writers. 
In ^' A broad-side against coffee, or the marriage o^ the Turk," 
1672, the WTiter notices this change in the manners : 

•' Confusion hnddles all into one scene, 
Like Noah's ark, the clean and the unclean ; 
For now, alas ! the drench has credit got, 
And he's no gentleman who drinks il not. 
That such a dwarf should rise to such a stature ' 
But custom is but a remove from nature." 

In 1675 Charles the II., by a proclamation, shut them all up 
for a time. A general discontent took place, and emboldened 
the merchants and retailers of coffee and tea to petition : per- 
mission was granted to open them to a certain period, under a 
severe admonition that the masters should prevent all scandalous 
papers, books, and libels being read in them, and hinder every 
person from spreading scandalous reports against the govern- 
ment. This would be a difficult matter for the masters to 
decide upon ; for how could they determine what was scan- 
dalous, what book was fit to be read, and what political intelli- 
gence might be proper to communicate } 

The Earl of Cork, in the following verse, could have told them 

"There is a lust in man no charm can tame. 
Of loudly publishing his neighbour's shame ; 
On eagle's wings immortal scandals fly. 
While virtuous actions are but born t^ die." Horace. 

On the introduction of chocolate, Roger North thus com- 
plains : " The use of coffee-houses seems much improved by a 
new invention called chocolate-houses^ for the benefit of rooks 
and culleys of quality, where gaming is added to all the rest, 

and the summons of w seldom fail ; as if the devil had 

erected a new university, and those were the colleges of its 
professors as well as his schools of divinity." 

As coffee was sold in such small quantities as penny-worths, 
these places were called "penny universities." 

At the close of the seventeenth century a house near the 
bottom of Fleet-street commenced selling saloop, which was 
nothing more than an infusion of sassafras served with milk and 
sugar ; it was a beverage pleasant to my taste. I have also 
seen it sold at the corners of streets. The use of it has declined, I 

13* 



150 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

expect, from its being sold dear. " Saloop is the root of the male 
orchis ; when boiled, it is somewhat. hot and disagreeable."* 

Coffee-houses were numerous ; they had them both by 
land and by water : there was a large ane (and it must have 
been a very pleasant one) floating on the Thames. This, in 
summer weather, must have been a delightful place of resort, 
away from clatter and dust or mud, and enjoying the coo!, 
refreshing breeze, occasionally enlivened by the distant sounds 
of some charming peel of bells " swelling with musical cadence 
upon the listening ear.'' 

If the present race had so fine an opportunity of passing away 
a few hours in such a sort of half social solitude, with " the fine- 
flavoured pinch " or " the fragrant weed," 

" Where care, like smoke, in turbid wreaths 
Round the gay ceiling flies," Horace. 

how pleasant would it be to muse on the following lines, by 
Young : 

*♦ Let not the cooings of the world allure thee . 
Which of her lovers ever found her true ;'' 



TOBACCO AND SNUFF. 

"Tobacco's pungent leaves proclaim 
The Indians naught but death could tame." 

These two articles (which may be spoken of as one) were 
the cause of much pamphleteering. King James lashed its use 
with all his feeble powers, which brought forth replies from 
various wits in prose and poetry. It has outlived all the wit- 
lings, and seems to have become one of the necessaries of life.'f 
It has not the ill effects which were formerly assigned to it 
From a work of Dr. Holland, entitled " Medical Notes and Re- 
flections," 1839, it does not appear to be a cause of dyspepsia 

SnutF-taking increased very much after Sir George Rooke's 
expedition to Spain, great quantities having been taken and 
sold as prizes. 

Dr. Beach, in his " Family Physician," recommends the fol- 
lowing compound for the head : " High laurel, sassafras, and 
blood-root, of each one ounce, well mixed and finely powdered." 

* Cooke's Third Vovajre. 

t It was a Captain Lane, in 15S6, who taught Raleigh smoking. The 
English smoking has generally been attributed to that enterprising and un- 
fortunate man. 



TOBACCO AND SNUFF. l5l 

According to Dodsley, (on agriculture,) they also used the 
foliwing compound : 

" He the salubrious leaf 



Of endial sage, the purple flowering head 
Of fragrant lavender, enlivening mint, 
Valerian's fetid smell, endows benign 
With their cephalic virtues." 

No doubt, like many other things which we take, it may be 
abused ; for Richard Fletcher, Bishop of London, died smoking 
tobacco : but it has its use. Bulwer has thus spoken of it : 
" A pipe ! it is a great soother, a pleasant comforter ; blue 
devils fly before its honest breath ; it ripens the heart ; and the 
man who smokes, thinks like a sage and acts like a Samaritan." 

Charles Lamb, the poet, thus speaks of it enthusiastically : 

<* For thy sake, tobacco, I 
Would do anything else but die." 

Light tongs, with a long rivet, like tailors' sheers, and a 
spring attached to make them close, were soon introduced for 
the more ready reaching and handing round a piece of hot 
coal for lighting pipes. I saw an ancient pair, of polished steel, 
very bright, the two ends which held the coal filed and fash- 
ioned like a delicate lady's hand. These seem now to have 
gone out of make ; but, I expect, would be worth reviving in 
this smoking country. 

If this should meet the eye of any one inclined to speculate 
upon the subject, I will give them the proper instructions. 

I should like to see, in an equal company of smokers and 
anti-smokers, some knotty question propounded to each, to be 
answered ofF-hand, and each answer taken down without any 
communication with each other. I have no doubt but the de- 
liberation the whiffs would occasion would be the cause why 
the smokers' solution would be considered the best : smoking 
stops t wattle. 

In this country I have noticed their use as being very con- 
ducive to sociability ; as being an easy and pleasant introduction ; 
as a means of lessening some aristocratic pride, which riches 
in all societies create. The snuiF-box, the cigar, and the pipe, 
with its filling and lighting, seem to be as open to all as the 
wild prairie is to a new race of squatters. 

This article was soon made exciseable, from which an im- 
mense revenue is derived ; and none is allowed to be grown in 
any part of Great Britain. As the greater part is exported 
from this country, the exise is a benefit to it, rather than 
otherwise. 



152 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



LAWS RESPECTING RELIGION. 

*• How long halt ye between two opinions]" 1 Kings 18 : 21. 

*' One faith, one measure, and one coin 
Would all the world in harmony conjoin." 

Bedilius all Monatis. 

The religious persecutions all over Europe produced some 
extraordinary circumstances in forcing people to emigrate. I 
will first give some of the English enactments. 

The first attack on the monastics was the suppression of the 
Knights' Templars, by Edward II., about 1307. 

The first act to suppress the monasteries was passed 1535, 
by Henry VIII. 

The next act was in the first year of Edward VI. ; " an act 
against speaking irreverently against taking the sacraments in 
both kinds." 

The next was in the second year of the same reign : there 
came forth the book of common prayer, and rites and ceremonies. 

The next was in the third year of the same reign : the 
priests were permitted to marry. 

In the first year of Queen Mary's reign all these laws were 
repealed, and the Catholic religion re-established. 

The first year of Queen Elizabeth she abolished again the 
Catholic religion ; and an oath was imposed upon all people to 
take, declaring her supremacy in all things, spiritual and tem- 
poral. 

Her second act re-enacted the common prayer book. 

Her third act excluded all from any share in the tithes, or 
any other church property, who did not swear to, and subscribe 
to, certain articles. 

Another act, " to restrain the queen majesty's subjects in 
their true obedience." This act was made against all manner 
of dissenters, then called non-conformists, (there were other 
acts against the Catholics,) who were called " schismatical and 
wicked people." These were enacted for punishment by fine, 
imprisonment, banishment, or death. 

These laws continued through the reigns of James I., Charles 
I.,* under Oliver Cromwell, and Charles II. ; and never began 
to be mitigated until the reign of James II., which mitigation 
was the sole cause of driving him from the throne. 

* In 1772 Lord Folkstone said, in a debate, that that part of the liturgy 
which calls King Charles a martyr, was composed by Father Patr6, the 
Jesuit confessor of King James II. This debate, which was moved by Mt. 
Montague, to get rid of this fast, was lost in the house of commons by a 
vote of 97 for, and 127 against, abolishing it. 



LAWS RESPECTING RELIGION. 153 

In the fifth and sixth years of the reign of Edward an act 
was passed " against quarrelling and fighting in churches and 
church-yards :" the constant disputing about religion, which 
these jaws created, caused these quarrels. 

The makers of these persecuting laws did not seem to con- 
sider that 

" Religion was intended 

For something else than to be mended ;" 

nor attend to the following maxim of Confucius : " He who 
persecutes a good man, makes war against himself and all man- 
kind." 

The learned Selden says : " No man was punished for per- 
jury by man's law until Queen Elizabeth's reign ; it was left 
to God as a sin against him : the reason was, because it was so 
hard a thing to prove a man perjured. I might misunderstand 
him, and yet he swears as he thought." — Table Talk. 

A writer in the Boston Pilot (W. Comstock) very properly 
observes : " Cromwell had found fanaticism very serviceable 
in the field, where, like steam power, it propelled his folloM^ers 
to a charge which battled every obstruction before it, until the 
bravest cavaliers rolled in the dust at the feet of the saints ; 
yet he discovered that authority, obedience, system, and regu- 
larity were indispensable requisites in affairs of state. Accord- 
ingly he seized the reins of government with a strong hand, 
and vaulted into the vacant throne as naturally as if he had been 
brought up to the business." 

In Edward VI. 's reign an act was passed, compelling people 
to pay tithe on their personal labour in the exercise of any art^ 
trade, or einployment. 

An act, called the '' Test and Corporation Act," was passed 
in the reign of Charles II., which excluded from all offices in 
corporations, and from all offices of trust and emolument under 
the crown, all persons who should not receive the sacraments 
according; to the rites and ceremonies of the established church. 
Every dissenter was thus shut out from all offices of trust, and 
also out of the universities, who had any scruples against these 
"rites and ceremonies." 

In 1602 there was a proclamation to restrain the Puritans 
from going to Virginia. Bishop Bancroft would at that time, 
if he could, have extended his law-church all over the world, 
and kept the people at home to endure it, whether they liked 
it or not. 

In 1604 King James I. expelled the Jesuits ; while the 
revocation of the edict of Nantes sent over plenty of indus- 
trious, ingenious manufacturers to London, (all Protestants.) 



154 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

Archbishop Laud told them, " Though their opinions were 
connived at, yet it was not fitting such a schism should be 
tolerated." 

*' The Church of England, as by law established," has yet 
to learn the following lines of Dryden parodied : 

" The pulpit's laws the pulpit's patrons give ; 
Those who live to preach, must preach to live." 



PERSECUTION IN THE OLDEN TIME. 

The following curious document is a specimen of what was 
done in old times : 

" A special release granted by the crown, June 24th, 1634, to 
Sir Edward Gary, Knight, with a grant to Thomas Risdon, 
Esq., and Christopher Maynard, Gent. Wolseley 

" Sir Edward Cary, of Marldom, Knt., was convicted in law 
on the 16th of March, 1629, of being a recusant. In virtue 
of a writ from the crown office, an inquisition was taken October 
1st, 1630, in the Parish of St. Thomas the Apostle, by John 
Davye, Esq., High Sheriff of Devon, by which it was certified 
that the said Sir Edward Cary was seized of and in 
The whole Manor of St. Mary Church, of the clear 

value of------- (per annum) £5 

The Manor of Coffinswell, 368 

" Northlewe, 500 

" Ashwater, 10 00 

" Bradford, 5 

" Abbotesham, -------500 

" Stockley als Meath, 2 6 8 

" Goodley, 4 7 1 

Of a messuage and tenement, and 90 acres, called 

Estkimber, ----0 10 

Of a messuage and tenement, and 44 acres, called 

Middlelake, 10 

Of a messuage and tenement, and 91 acres, called 

Monchouse, -----0 13 4 

Of a messuage and tenement, and 53 acres, Dobles 

Thorne, 10 

Of a messuage and tenement, and 55 acres, Gaston 

or Gason, ---- -------068 

Of a messuage and tenement, and 70 acres, Yeo in 

Allington, 368 

Of a messuage and tenement, and 53 acres, in 

Cockington, ----------090 



LAWS RESPECTi:Vii RELIGION. 155 

A third part of a cottage in Bedyford, - - - - £5 

6 acres in Aishenage or Alverdiscott, - - - - 5 9 

27 acres in Westland, Cherybere, and Dalton, - - 10 

97 acres in Parvacott, Thornadon, and Peworthy, 1 13 4 

12 acres in Instowe and Bradeworthy, - - - - 9 
120 acres in Westweeke and Bondehouse, in Lamer- 
ton and Broadwoodwiger, ------500 

" As Sir Edward Gary had not paid since his conviction the 
penalty of ^20 per month, King Charles I. was entitled, by 
law, to take, seize, and enjoy all the goods and chattels, and two 
parts of all the said lands, tenements, and hereditaments ; but 
by letters patent, under the great seal, dated June 24th, 1634, 
and enrolled in the pipe office October 20th, that year, his 
majesty was pleased to cancel and pardon all arrears to the said 
Sir E. Gary, his heirs, executors, and administrators, and to 
lease the said estates to Thomas Risdon and Ghristopher May- 
nard. Gents., to hold the same from Lady-day, 1632, during 
the term of forty-one years, by the yearly rent to the crown 
of £136 135. 4d, to be paid at Lady-day and Michaehnas, in 
even portions, into the exchequer. The said Thomas Risdon 
and Ghristopher Maynard have full power and authority to lease 
and grant the whole or part of the recited estates to Sir Edward 
Gary, Knight, or to any person or persons for his own use, not- 
withstanding the statute of the 3d of James l.^ an act for the 
better discovery and repressing of Popish Recusants ; and so long 
as the said Edward Gary pay the said yearly sum of iS136 13s. 
4c?., both he and his wife are to remain unmolested by the civil 
and ecclesiastical judges and commissioners, and to be exempt 
from all pains and penalties, by reason of their past recusancy 
or their future absence from the Protestant church, chapel, or 
place of common prayer." 

A very curious circumstance came to light last year, which 
gives great information upon the law respecting religion. In 
the reign of Gharles II. a Lady Hawley left certain manors of 
land in the county of York, in trust, to support " Godly preach- 
ers of Ghrist's holy Gospel," which, in the course of time, had 
got into the hands of the Unitarians. The phrase of the donor, 
taking into consideration the historico politico condition of the 
times, meant some sort of Protestant dissenters, otherw^ise it 
would have been soon obtained by trustees of " the church as 
by law established." After various trials in various courts, it 
came to a final decision in the house of lords, (1842.) On 
the opinion of the judges, that Unitarians do not come within 
the forms of the trust deeds, Mr. Justice Erskine observed^ 
that *' those who denied the Trinity were blasphemers, and 



156 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

therefore, they could not be intended by the term * Godly 
preachers.' " 

I should have thought this was more a point to be decided 
by a doctor of divinity than a doctor of law ; but I yield — 

" The pulpit is none of my office." — Db Foe. 



TRANSPORTATIOJN AND EMIGRATION. 1 

" It is a shameful and unblessed thing, to taka the scum of the people, and 
•wicked and condemned men, to be the people with whom you plant." — Bacon. 

I BELIEVE the introduction of the African negro into this 
continent was in the year 1445. It first commenced in 1442, 
by Anthony Gonsalez, a Portuguese. In 1502 the Spaniards 
employed them in Hispaniola. 

In 1618 the British were regularly engaged in it. In 1620 
they were employed in Virginia. The Dutch brought twenty. 
The total number of slaves in the British colonies and America, 
from 1680 to 1786, may be put down at 2,120,000. 

The emigration and transportation of the white population 
were almost all cut off by the natives or disorders before the 
Stuarts began to grant their charters. Those instruments 
secured property, and laid the basis for order and good govern- 
ment ; indeed one of them, that for Rhode Island, still remains. 

In the thirty years' war of Gustavus Adolphus, he had four 
lieutenant generals, twenty colonels, and inferior officers of 
great number, (all natives of Scotland,) in his army.* 

After the treaty of Limerick, 1691, to the battle of Fontinoj^, 
1745, there was so great an emigration from Ireland, that the 
French army was partly composed of an Irish brigade. There 
died in their service 150,000 Catholic soldiers. 

At this distance of time we can see the injurious effects 
persecution has had, and how such vile measures against their 
own subjects produced disastrous effects even against them- 
selves ; while it also produced more disastrous effects to the 
cause of religion itself. But many then found that 

" Persecution and devotion 
Did equally advance promotion." Hudibkas. 

According to Anderson, people began to emigrate voluntarily 
about 1700. In 1729, 6208 emigrated to Pennsylvania : there 
were 243 Germans, 267 English and Welch, and 43 Scotch ; the 

* Mackay. 



TRANSPORTATION AND EMIGRATION. 157 

rest were Irish. The Germans were all passengers, the Scotch 
all servants, the English, Welch, and Irish were partly servants 
and passengers.* 

In 1617 Capt. Samuel Argal was appointed deputy governor 
of the colony of Virginia, under Lord Delaware and adniiral of 
the adjacent seas. The following is an instance of his infamous 
edicts, from Dr. Belknap's American Biography : " He fixed 
the advance on goods imported from England at twenty-five 
per cent., and the price of tobacco at three shillings the pound : 
the penalty for transgressing this regulation was three years' 
slavery. No person was allowed to fire a gun, except in his 
own defence against an enemy, till a new supply of ammunition 
should arrive, on penalty of one year's slavery. Absence from 
church on Sundays and holydays was punished by laying the 
offender neck and heels for one whole night, or by one week's 
slavery ; the second offence by one month's ; and the third by 
one year's slavery. Private trade with the savages, or teaching 
them the use of arms, was punishable by death." These, and 
similar laws, were executed with great rigour. Although 
Argal was odious to the colonists, yet he was not only never 
punished, but was knighted by King James. 

It is painful to relate that, " in the year 1736, Henry 
Justice, Esq., a lawyer of the Middle Temple, was tried 
at the Old Bailey for stealing books out of Trinity College, 
Cambridge, and was sentenced to be transported to the Ame- 
rican plantations for seven years. "j 

The Scotch began to emigrate in shoals about 1745, the last 
Scotch rebellion ; and then the government began to take alarm, 
and, with the view of restraining them in that part of the 
kingdom, voted annually large sums to make good roads, 
construct bridges, and make the three northern lakes navigable 
from sea to sea. Indeed, until Malthus promulgated his 
curious doctrine o^ over population, the government seemed to 
entertain the opinion, and persevere in the maxim, that had 
hitherto governed all the world — ^that a nation could not be 
too full of people. 

Forming colonies tends 

" To enlarge the world's contemporaneous mind, 
And amplify the picture of mankind." 

* Mr. Mooney, in his seventh lecture on " Irish history," said : " The south 
of this country was settled by Spaniards and French, and also up the Missis- 
sippi ; Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio very generally by Irish. Virginia has 
many from England, and so have the northern states ; but Baltimore, and 
some of the Carolinas, generally settled by Irish. Pennsylvania was very 
early after its first settlement peopled by Irish ; and there are now in 
Philadelphia seventy thousand Irish." 

t Hone's Every Day Book. 

14 



158 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

There were very severe laws against emigration, and fully 
enforced as late as 1817 ; but they were all repealed in the 
reign of George IV. 

The stamp act of Grenville, in 1764, (under George HI.,) 
was one of the immediate causes of the American war. How 
wise were those brave men in opposing it. The amount of that 
one item of their immense taxation was ^6,500,000 in 1830. 

The population of the city New York, taken by order of the 
king in the year 1697, was 3727. I have seen a statement 
that it was only 1000 in 1656. In 1843, upward of 300,000. 
If these enumerations are correct, this is a very rapid increase. 

The first writer on those wonders of the world, the Falls of 
Niagara, was a French Jesuit, in the year 1678.* 

In 1688 Sir Josiah Childe foretold the Americans would be 
the rivals of the English. 

I have no doubt this influential man's prediction had a very 
powerful effect upon all the British councils from the day it was 
penned to the ever-memorable day on which George the Hi. 
is reported to have said to the first American ambassador, '' I 
was the first to go into the war, and the last to go out of it." 
Oh ! what a salutation ! How many reflections rush into the 
mind ! But I must stop, and leave them to be detailed bj" some 
future historian. 

Davenant says the average annual value of exports from 
England to America, of all kinds of apparel and household fur- 
niture, for six years, from 1682 to 1688, was about i6350,000. 
The importations in return were tobacco, cocoa, fish, pipe- 
staves, masts, furs, sugar, ginger, cotton, fustic, and indigo. 
Furs and fish were sent from Newfoundland to the amount of 
^950,000. Of these imports there might be retained, for home 
consumption, about ^6350,000 ; £600,000 re-exported. 

If I say but little about the cotton trade, it must be consi- 
dered there was not, before the reign of George III., any article 
made exclusively of cotton ; and there have been some very 

* I have not been so fortunate as to meet with what he wrote, but I 
apprehend he could not have seen them under more favourable circum- 
stances than the following, from the Lockport Balance, 1834 : 

" The Falls of Niagara present at this time a spectacle of unusual magnifi- 
cence. On the American side the spray has formed an immense mass of 
ice, extending nearly across the foot of the fall, and more than a hundred 
feet in height. From the summit of the ice the spray rises like smoke from a 
volcano. The fall between Goat Island and the Tower is incrusted with 
ice, except a space some twenty feet wide, midway in its descent. Below 
are enormous and fantastic shapes of ice, mounds, caverns, and grottoes . 
against the dark rock of the island hang icicles thirty and forty feet in 
length, of the purest white and blue ; the river itself, flashing with ice 
broken into innumerable fragments — and the rainbow spanning the whole 
—presents a scene surpassing the wildest dreams of the imagination " 



A USURER OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

important treatises upon the subject. The consumption of 
cotton last year was 1,417,300 bales. 

Locke wrote a constitution for both North and South Caro- 
lina, which could not be carried into effect : there were one 
hundred and twenty articles, combining a feudal nobility. 

According to the first American census taken, in 1790, the 
number was 3,929,526 souls, of which 695,655 were slaves. 

The amount of emigration to this port seems to be as follows : 
There was no record before 1827 ; in that year there arrived 
10,412. The smallest number was in 1830 ; in that year they 
were only 9,127; in 1836 the number was 58,597 ; in 1840 
there were 56,274. The average for fourteen years was 32,215, 
and eight over, per year. The total number arrived in all the 
ports in the year 1840, was 115,206, by sea. 

The number of passengers last year to this port alone was 
74,940 ; and to Canada, 42,355. 

A great proportion of these emigrants came through the house 
of Caleb Grimshaw & Co., 10 Goree Piazzas, Liverpool, to 
the old established house of Samuel Thompson, Emigrant 
Office, 273 Pearl-street, in this city ; who regularly and faith- 
fully remit sums of money obtained by the hard-earned labour 
of industrious emigrants, to their friends and relatives in all 
parts of the three kingdoms with the greatest despatch. A. xv. 



A USURER OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

-Here lay 



A manor fast bound in a skin of parchnment, 

The wax continuing hard, the acres melting , 

Here a sure deed of gift for a market town, 

If not redeem'd this day, which is not in 

The unthrifts power ; there being scarce one shire 

In Wales or England where my moneys are not 

lient out at usury, the certain hook 

To draw in more." Massinger's Citxj Madam. 

In the year 1605 was born Hugh Audley, some time of the 
court of wards and liveries, who began with iS200, and died in 
1662 worth £400,000. In his time he was called " the great 
Audley," an epithet so often abused, and here applied to the 
creation of enormous wealth. But there are minds of great 
capacity concealed by the nature of their pursuits ; and the 
wealth of Audley may be considered as the cloudy medium 
through which a brighter genius shone, of which, had it been 



t%0 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

thrown into a nobler sphere of action, greatness would have 
been less ambiguous. 

The legal interest was then " ten in the hundred ;"* but the 
thirty, the fifty, and the hundred for the hundred, the gripe of 
usury, and the shameless contrivances of the money-traders 
exacted, these he would attribute to the follies of others, or 
to his own genius. 

This genius of thirty per cent, had proved the decided vigour 
of his mind, by his enthusiastic devotion to his law studies : 
deprived of the leisure for study through his busy day, he stole 
the hours from his late nights and early mornings ; and, without 
the means to procure a law library, he invented a method to 
possess one without cost : as fast as he learned, he taught ; 
and, by publishing some useful tracts on temporary occasions, 
he was enabled to purchase a library. 

He appears never to have read a book without its furnishing 
him with some new practical design ; and he probably studied 
none too much for his own particular advantage. Such devoted 
study was the way to become a lord chancellor ; but the science 
of the law was here subordinate to that of a money-trader. 

When yet but a clerk to the clerk in the counter, frequent 
opportunities occurred which Audley knew how to improve. 
He became a money-trader as he became a law writer, and the 
fears and follies of mankind were to furnish him with a trading 
capital. The fertility of his genius appeared in expedients and 
quick contrivances. He was sure to be the friend of all men 
fallinp* out. He took a deep concern in the affairs of his mas- 
ter's clients, and often much more than they were aware of. 
No man so ready at procuring bail or compounding debts. 
This was a considerable traffic. He had men at his command 
who hired themselves out for bail, swore what was required, 
and contrived to give false addresses. They dressed themselves 
out for the occasion, a great seal-ring flamed on the finger, 
which, however, was pure copper gilt, the only article of purity 
about them ; and they often assumed the names of some persons 
of good credit. Savings, and small presents for gratuitous 
opinions, often afterward discovered to be fallacious ones, 
enabled him to purchase annuities of easy land-holders, with 

♦ 
* In Stratford-upon-Avon church is a monument to John Combe, Esq , 
who (lied July 10th, 1614. He was a neighbour and an acquaintance of 
Shakspeare, and is said to have been so much disliked for his usurious 
practices, that he composed on him the following extemporaneous lines as 
a satirical epitaph : 

" Ten in the hundred lies here ingraved, 

'Tis a hundred to ten his soul is not saved j 

If any one ask who lies in this tomb, 
' Oh ! oh !' quoth the devil, ' 'tis my John-a-Combe.' " 



A USURER OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 16 1 

treble amount secured on their estates. The improvidtnt 
owners or the careless heirs were soon entangled in the usurer's 
nets ; and, after the receipt of a few years, the annuity, by some 
latent quibble, or some irregularity in the payments, usually 
ended in Aud ley's obtaining the treble forfeiture. He could at 
all times out knave a knave ; in the language of Spencer, '^ As 
for virtue, he counted it but a school name." One of these 
incidents has been preserved. A draper, of no honest reputa- 
tion, being arrested by a merchant for a debt of £200, Audley 
bought the debt for £40, for which the draper immediately 
offered him £50 ; but Audley would not consent, unless the 
draper indulged a sudden whim of his own : this was a formal 
contract, that the draper should pay within twenty years, upon 
certain days, a penny doubled. " A knave in haste to sign is 
no calculator ;" and, as the contemporary dramatist describes 
one of the arts of those citizens, one part of whose business was 
" to swear and break, they all grew rich by breaking," the 
draper eagerly compounded. He afterward grew rich ; Audley, 
silently M''atching his victim, within two years claimed his 
doubled pennies every month during twenty months. The 
pennies had now grown to pounds. The knave perceived the 
trick, and preferred paying the forfeiture of his bond for £500, 
rather than to receive the visitation of all the little generation 
of compound interest in the last descendant of £2000, which 
would have closed with the draper's shop. 

Such petty enterprizes at length assumed a deeper cast of 
interest. He formed temporary partnerships with the stewards 
of country gentlemen : they underlet estates which they had to 
manage; and, anticipating the owners' necessities, the estates 
in due time became cheap purchases for Audley and the stew- 
ards. He usually contrived to make the wood pay for the land, 
which he called " making the feathers pay for the goose." 
He had, however, such a tenderness of conscience for his vic- 
tim, that, having plucked the live feathers before he sent the 
unfledged goose on the common, he would bestow a gratuitous 
lecture in his own science, teaching the art of making them grow 
again, by showing how to raise the remaining rents. Audley 
thus made the tenant furnish at once the means to satisfy his 
own rapacity and his employer's necessities. " Under an easy 
landlord," says Audley, " a tenant seldom thrives, contenting 
himself to make the just measure of his rents, and not labour- 
ing for any surplusage of estate ; under a hard one the tenant 
revenges himself upon the land, and runs away with the rent. 
I would raise my rents to the present price of all commodities ; 
for if we should let our lands go on in price, we should fall 
backward in our estates." 

14* 



162 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

When a borrowing lord complained to Audley of his exac- 
tions, his lordship exclaimed : " What, do you not intend to 
use a conscience ?" " Yes, I intend hereafter to use it ; we 
moneyed people must balance accounts ; if you do not pay me, 
you cheat me ; but if you do, then I cheat your lordship." 
Audley 's moneyed conscience balanced the risk of his lordship's 
honour. When he resided in the Temple, among those " pul- 
lets without feathers," as an old writer describes the brood, 
the good man would pule out paternal homilies on improvident 
youth, grieving that they, under pretence of learning the law, 
only learned to be lawless, and never knew by their own studies 
the process of an execution till it was served on themselves. 
Nor could he fail in his prophecy ; for at the moment that the 
stoic was enduring their ridicule, his agents were supplying 
them with the certain means of verifying it ; for, as it is quaintly 
said, he had his decoying as well as his decaying gentlemen. 

The arts practised by the money-traders of that time have 
been detailed by one of the town satirists of the age — Dekkar, 
in his '' English Villainies." 

The reign of James I. is characterized by all the wantonness 
of prodigality among one class, and all the penuriousness and 
rapacity of the other, which met in the dissolute indolence of 
a peace of twenty years. 

Audley's worldly wisdom was of that sort which derives its 
strength from the weakness of mankind : everything was to 
be obtained by stratagem ; and it was his maxim, that, to grasp 
our object the faster, we must go a little round about it. His 
life is said to have been one of intricacies and mysteries, using 
indirect means in all things : if he walked in a labyrinth, 
it was to bewilder others, for the clue was still in his own 
hands ; all he sought was, that his designs should not be dis- 
covered by his actions. His word, we are told, was his bond ; 
his hour was punctual, and his opinions were compressed and 
weighty. But if he were true to his bond-word, it was only a 
part of the system, to give facility to the carrying on of his trade, 
for he was riot strict to his honour ; lawyer as he was, he had 
not the noble notion of honour that the author of Hudibras had ; 

" Honour's a lease for lives to come, 
And canrjot be extended from 
The legal tenant." 

The pride of victory, as well as the vile passion for acquisition, 
combined in the character of Audley as in more tremendous 
conquerors. His partners dreaded the effects of his law library, 
and usually relinquished a claim rather than stand a suit against 
a latent quibble. When one menaced him by showing some 



A USURER OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 163 

money-bags which he had resolved to empty in .aw against 
him, Audiey, then in office in the cornet of wards, with a sar- 
castic grin, asked whether the bags had any bottom. " Ay," 
replied the exulting possessor, striking them. " In that case I 
care not," retorted the cynical officer ; "for in this court I have 
a constant spring, and I cannot spend in other courts more 
than I gain in this." He had at once the meanness which 
would evade the law, and the spirit which could resist it. 

His was " a meanness that soars, 
And a pride that would lick the dust." 

This philosophical usurer never pressed hard for his debts ; 
like the fowler, he never shook his nets, lest he might startle — 
satisfied with having in command his victims without appear- 
ing to hold them. With great fondness, he compared his bonds 
to infants, which battle best by sleeping. To battle is to be 
nourished, a term still retained at the University of Oxford. 
His familiar companions were all subordinate actors in the 
great piece of roguery he was performing. When not taken 
by surprise, on his table usually lay opened a great bible, with 
Bishop Andrew's folio Sermons, which often gave him an op- 
portunity of railing at the covetousness of the clergy, decla- 
ring their religion was a mere preach, and that the times would 
never be well until we had Queen Elizabeth's Protestants again 
in fashion. He was aware of all the evils arisins: out of a 
population beyond the means of subsistence, and dreaded an 
inundation of men, spreading like "the spawn of a cod." 
Hence he considered marriage with a modern religious political 
economist as very dangerous ; bitterly censuring the clergy, 
whose children, he said, never thrived, and whose widows 
were left destitute. An apostolical life, according to him, re- 
quired only books, meat, and drink, to be had for fifty pounds 
a year. Celibacy, voluntary poverty, and all the mortifications 
of a primitive Christian, were the virtues practised by this 
Puritan among his money-bags. 

The genius of Audley had crept out of the purlieus of Guild- 
hall, and entered the Temple, and at length was enabled to 
purchase his office at that remarkable institution, the court of 
wards. The entire fortunes of those whom we now call wards 
in chancery, were in the hands, and often submitted to the arts 
or the tyranny, of the officers of this court. 

When Audley was asked the value of this new office, he 
replied, that " it might be worth some thousands of pounds to 
him who, after his death, would instantly go to heaven ; twice 
as much to him who would go to purgatory ; and nobody knows 
what to him who would adventure to go to hell." Such was 



164 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT ERITAIN. 

the profligate saying of this pious casuistry of a witty usurer. 
Whether he undertook this last adventure for his al£400,000, 
how can his biographer decide ? 

If in the courts of wards he pounced on incumbrances which 
lay on estates, and prowled about to discover the craving wants 
of their owners, it appears that he also received liberal fees from 
the relatives of young heirs, to protect them from the rapacity 
of some great persons, but who could not certainly exceed him 
in subtility. He was an admirable lawyer, for he was not satis- 
fied with hearing^ but examined his clients, which he called 
" pinching the cause where he perceived it was foundered." 
He made two observations on clients and lawyers, which have 
not lost their poignancy : " Many clients, in telling their case, 
rather plead than relate it ; so that the advocate heareth not the 
true state of it till opened by the adverse party. Some lawyers 
seem to keep an insurance office in their chambers, and will 
warrant any cause, knowing that if they fail they lose nothing 
but what was long since lost — their credit." 

The career of Audley's ambition closed with the extinction 
of the court of wards, by which he incurred the loss of^ 100,000. 
On that occasion he observed, that " his ordinary losses were 
as the shavings of his beard, which only grew the faster by 
cutting ; but the loss of this place was like the cutting off of 
a member which was irrecoverable." The hoary usurer pined 
at the decline of his genius, discoursed on the- vanity of the 
world, and hinted at a retreat. A facetious friend told him of 
a story of an old rat, who, having acquainted the young rats 
that he would at length retire to his hole, desired none to come 
near him ; their curiosity after some days led them to venture 
to look in, and there they discovered the old rat sitting in the 
midst of a rich Parmesan cheese. It is probable that the loss 
of the last iE100,000 disturbed his digestion, for he did not long 
survive his court of wards. 

Such was this man, converting wisdom into cunning, inven- 
tion into trickery, and wit into cynicism. Engaged in no 
honourable cause, he showed a mind resolved — making plain 
the crooked, and involved he trod. " Sustine et abstine,^^ (bear 
and forbear,) was the great principle of Epictetus ; and our 
moneyed stoic bore all the contempt and hatred of the living 
smilingly ; while he forbore all the consolation of our common 
nature to obtain his end. He died in unblessed celibacy ; arx-d 
thus he received the curse of the living for his rapine, while 
the stranger who grasped the money he had thus raked together^ 
owed him no gratitude at his death. (D'Israeli.) 

" A miser, until he dies, does nothing right." 



..xSE OF THREE TITLED FAMILIEo. 165 

This is only a sample out of the many which the history of 
England so painfully portrays of the evil effects of usury, 
which was not allowed until after the reformation. A valu- 
able treatise on that subject was published by the Right Honour- 
able Dr. Wilson, secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth, in 1569. 
He says : " It is condemned by heathens, by Christians, by the 
old fathers, the ancient counsels, by emperors, by kings, b}^ 
bishops, by decrees of canons, by all sorts of religions," even 
by the Koran, " by the Gospel of Christ, and by the mouth of 
God." 

A very valuable treatise has been published in this country 
(TJ, S.) by the Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan, wherein the whole 
subject is fully and fairly discussed. 

How different are the opinions of modern times. Bacon 
says : " For were it not for this lazie trade of usury, money 
would not lie still, but would in great part be employed upon 
merchandizing." 

In all ages of the world has greedy usury been detested : it 
is a great nurse to all profligate expectants, who grudge the 
possessor every minute of life, and whose salutation is either 
expressed or understood ; as. 



' Lo ! old skin-flint comes ; 

In his dry eyes what parsimony stares ! 

Would he was gone, 

That I might his thousands squander." 



RISE OF THREE TITLED FAMILIES. 

*' Curst be the estate got with so many a crime ; 
Yet this is oft the stair by which men cUmb." Tasso. 

DARNLEY FAMILY. 

John Bligh, the first of this family settled in Ireland, was 
originally a citizen and dry Salter in London ; (a dry Salter is a 
person who sells dye stuffs and other heavy drugs.) He came 
over with Cromwell ; and while he was the governor he acted 
as agent to the adventurers of forfeited estates during the time 
of the rebellion in 1641. 

He speedily became an adventurer himself, subscribing £600 
to a joint stock, in which two other speculators were concerned ; 
and, on casting lots among other adventurers, the allotments for 
himself and his associates fell in the Baronies of Lune and 



166 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

Moghergallon, and on the property which had belonged to the 
Gormanston family. 

He seated himself at Rathmore, on a part of the estate thus 
easily acquired, and shortly augmented his property. 

In the first parliament after the restoration, Bligh was 
returned member for Athboy, which sent two previous to the 
union. He was afterward joined in several lucrative commis- 
sions under government. Thomas, his only son, who erected 
into a manor the principal estates of the family in this neigh- 
bourhood, was also empowered by King William (the deliverer) 
to hold five hundred acres in demesne, and to impale eight 
hundred acres for deer. John, grandson to the founder, was 
created Baron Ciifi on, of Rathmore, 1721 ; Viscount Darnley, 
of Athboy, 1723 ; Baron Clifton, of Leighton Bromswold, in 
England; and Ead Darnley, 1725.* 

This peer's motto to his arms is " Finem respice,^^ look to the 
end, which is very well, considering how he began. But if he 
wishes to change it, the following would be more appropriate : 
^' Capiat que capere potest^^^ catch that catch can. 

"The deeds of long descended ancestors 
Are but by grace of imputauon ours." Dryden 



LANDSDOVVN FAMILY. 

" Oh ! that estates, degrees, and offices 
Were not derived corruptly !" 

In Rumsey church, Hampshire, are the remains of " Sir 
William Petty, a native of the place, the ancestor of the present 
Marquis of Landsdown. He was the son of a cloth- weaver, 
and was doubtless a weaver himself when young. He became a 
surgeon ; was first in the service of King Charles I., then went 
into that of Cromwell, whom he served as physician general^^^ 
so this man had to do with the smaller sort of drugs ; Bligh 
providing the bulky sort — the pitch, brimstone, gunpowder, 
and other combustibles : however, between them both, the 
poor Irish got finely physicked upward and downward, and a 
precious lot never recovered. In capacity of grand doctor, " he 
resided at Dublin till Charles II. came, when he came over to 
London, (having become very rich,) was knighted by that 
profligate and ungrateful king, and died in 1687, leaving a 
fortune of iei5,000 a year. This is what his biographers say. 
He must have made pretty good use of his time while physician 

* Brewer's Ireland. 



RISE OF THREE TITLED FAMILIES. 167 

general to Cromwell's army in poor Ireland. Petty by nature 
as well as by name, he got from Crom.well a patent for double 
writing, invented by him ; and he invented a double-bottomed 
ship to sail against wind and tide, a model of which is still 
preserved in the library of the Royal Society, of which he was 
a most worthy member. His great art was, however, the 
amassing of money, and the getting of grants of land in poor 
Ireland, in which he was one of the most successful of the 
English adventurers. The present Marquis of Landsdov/n 
was one of a committee who, in 1819, reported that the country 
was able to pay the interest of its national debt in gold.''"'* 
But, then, he spoke, 

"Not out of cunning, but a train 
Of jostling atoms in the brain." 

This man, who has occasionally been in the administration, 
and also a privy counsellor, is distinguished for " pigmy thoughts 
in gigantic expressions," and this is a fair sample. 

There, reader, 1 dare say I need not tell you any more about 
this man, nor will I, except to show you how prettily, or rather 
pettyly, his titles jingle. He is Marquis Landsdown, Earl of 
Wycombe, Viscount Calne and Calnstone, Baron Wycombe in 
England, Earl of Shelburne, Viscount Fitzmaurice, Baron 
Dunkerton in Ireland. His motto is " Virtute non mves," 
which is, by courage rather than strength. If he will put 
astutia, cunning for courage, that will do very well for the 
descendant of the oM Rumsey weaver. 



FOLEY FAMILY. 
" Ui prosim,^^ that I may do good. 

I HAVE got an accidental rise from humble life, whose motto 
will do very well for the subject. There is an old German 
maxim, '^ Luck, like death, has its appointed hour." 

Byron says : " Like Sylla, I have always believed that all 
things depend upon fortune, and nothing upon ourselves." 

Shakspeare says : 

"There is a tide in the affairs of men 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." 

It was fortunate that one of the Foley family had learned to 
fiddle. For this one, who lived near Stourbridge, was often a 
witness to the great loss of time and labour by the method then in 
use of dividing the rods of iron in the manufacturing of nans. 

* Cobbett's ''■ Rural Rides." 



168 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

The splitting mills were invented in Sweden, and he heard of 
them, so he fiddled his way to Hull, and shipped himself and his 
fiddle on board a Baltic bound vessel, by working his passage 
He then fiddled his way to the iron mines, and by his fiddle 
soon became among the workmen a great favourite. After 
staying as long as he thought proper, he fiddled his way home, 
and communicated his ideas in full concert to a Mr. Knight, 
with whom he became associated. They started some splitting 
mills, but somehow or other they could not work them ; (this 
instrument was out of tune \) and our persevering hero fresh 
resined his shoes and his fiddle-bow, and paid another visit to 
his Swedish musical friends, who were doubly glad to see him, 
and hear him too ; and, for his farther accommodation, they 
permitted him to sleep in that part of the building where the 
splitting mill was fixed; when, by the rudest method, (for, 
although he was a fiddler, he was not a draughtsman,) he 
brought home the plan more complete, and thus laid the foun- 
dation of a good fortune, landed estate, and, ultimately for his 
descendants, a title.* 

The first peer, Thomas Foley, was created Baron Foley of 
Kidderminster in 1711. 

Thus, reader, when you have a good object in view, adopt 
the following motto : Nil desperandum, never despair. 

There arises much pleasure in contemplating such a character 
as this ; and there must have been great pleasure to those who 
had only the happiness of a short acquaintance. I think I hear 
one say of him, while on these knowledge-seeking tours, 

*' I saw him but a moment, 

Yet methinks I see him now, 
With the dust of summer's travel 
Upon his jolly brow." 



FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

" The long detail of where we've been. 
And what we'd heard, and what we'd seen, 
And what the poet's tuneful skill. 
And what the painter's graphic art, 
Or antiquarian's searches keen, 
Or calm amusement could impart." 

Scott's Ode to a Friend. 

As Lord Bacon was for a time an influential character, it may 
be supposed that his judgment upon this subject would have 

* S. T. Coleridge. 



FOREIGN TRAVEL. 169 

some weight. He said, "reading makes a full man, writing a 
correct man, speaking a ready man, and travelling a finished 
man." The author of " Le Cosmopolite" describes "the 
universe as a kind of book, of which one has only read the 
first page when one has only seen his own country." 

Burton, in his " Anatomy of Melancholy," says : " Peregri- 
nation charms our senses with such unspeakable and sweet 
variety, that some count him unhappy that never travelled — a 
kind of prisoner — and pity his case that from his cradle to his 
grave beholds the same ; still, still, the same." 

Therefore, to give a finish to the education of the juvenile 
aristocracy, and to soften down the painful inflictions they had 
received from the hands of the pedagogues, a tour on the con- 
tinent was considered necessary before entering on the more 
interesting duties of active life. But much caution on this 
subject was to be duly observed. On what part of the conti- 
nent could they go, worthy of any intelligent person's conside- 
ration, without his being in actual daily contact with a Catholic 
population } Even in those parts where the spirit of reformation 
had crept in — nay, had taken root, and was flourishing — they 
could not be sure of being free from the contagion of one or 
more of the highly-tutored sons of the " crafty Loyola." A 
writer of the name of Oldham had thus versified them : 

" Swifter than murdering angels when they fly 
On errands of avenging destiny ; 
Fiercer than storms let loose with eager haste, 
Lay cities, countries, realms, whole nature waste.'*^ 

Now, although the most vulgar of the people of the present 
day know this to be a bare-faced exaggeration, yet it was then in 
the high tide of belief. A Jesuit was considered as 

" The dragon of old, who churches ate, 
(He used to come on a Sunday ;) 
Whole congregations were to him 
But a dish of salmagundi." 

However, though there was this difficulty, and although it 
had its weight, yet it did not oppose an insurmountable obstacle, 
for numbers of them went ; and numerous love intrigues and 
hair-breadth escapes had they to encounter in the taverns of 
France and Italy, which would add charms to their corres- 
pondence, or serve to occupy many pages in their common-place 
books. It would, no doubt, be for years an interesting theme 
to any one of them to relate how he posted to Moscow to 
witness a Muscovite coronation ; to recount the number and 
shapes of the fantastic spires, and the size and weight of the 

15 



170 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

enormous bell which served to embellish that ancient city. 
To another, to give an account of the high belfry at Strasburg ; 
and to another, to give the history of the ancient tun at Hel- 
delbergh. If he vs^ere not able to enliven his tale with the 
same vein of drollery which the facetious Peter Pindar did 
the visit of George III. (as the courtiers say, " of ever-blessed 
memory''^) to Whitbread's brew-house, it might, at any rate, 
be interesting enough to his dowager grandmother, who, after 
the hearty laugh, would the more readily be induced to unloosen 
her purse overflowing with her ample dowery, when the appeal 
was made to her for some little assistance, being necessary to 
settle some odd reckonings that were not proper to meet the 
severe scrutinizing eye of the perhaps needy or more cautious 
noble sire. 

The list of land travellers are not very numerous. As Dante 
says, " a little stuff will furnish out their cloaks." 

But there was one in particular who seemed to consider " that 
travelling furnishes present pleasure ; it delights the remem- 
brance, and indirectly is a perpetual source of joy and animation. 
Everything which occurs beautiful, curious, picturesque, or 
sublime, incessantly recalls corresponding themes to the memory 
and the imagination. The advantages of travel are important 
and many. By comparison alone man may justly estimate 
the climate, the political and scientific rank of his country and 
its people.''* 

The inimitable Goethe says : " My study of the nature of 
mountains, and the stones they produced, has greatly assisted 
me in my examination of works of art. The little knowledge 
I have acquired relative to the productions of nature which 
man employs as materials for various objects, has proved 
very useful in enabling me to understand the labours both of 
mechanics and artists. "| 

Lord Byron observes : '' Where I see the superiority of Eng- 
land, I am pleased ; where I find her inferior, I am enlightened." 
In fact, " he who, like the hero of the Odyssey, has 

* Discovered various cities, and the mind 
And manners learned of men in lands remote,' 

is the only person who can form a true judgment of the world. "J 
These, or similar ideas, were no doubt the heart-cheering 
and leg-inspiring motives of the author of" The Crudities." 

Thomas Coryate, born at Oldcombe, Somersetshire, in 1577, 

acquired a knowledge of Greek and Latin at Oxford, but he 

knew no other language. Bacon says : " He who has not made 

some progress in the language of the country through which he 

* Ensor. t Tour in Italy. i Independent Man. 



FOREIGN TRAVEL. 171 

passes, goes to school, not to travel." But the indefatigable 
Tom thought " the wise and good conquer difficulties by daring 
to attempt them ; sloth and folly shiver and shrink at sights 
of toil and dangers, and make the impossibilities they fear."* 

He was a great peripatetic. In 1608 he took a journey on 
foot, and published his travels under the curious title of " Crudi- 
ties hastily gobbled up in five months' travel in France, Savoy, 
Italy, Rhoetia, Helvetia, some parts of Germany, and the 
Netherlands." London, 1611. 

** He travell'd not for lucre sotted, 
But went for knowledge, and he got it." 

In 1612 he set out again, intending to spend ten years more; 
but he died drinking sack, at Surat,'in the East Indies, 1617, 
of the flux. 

*' Peace to the memory of a man of worth, 
A man of letters, and of manners too," Cowper. 

Purchas and Terry were his tent-mates. " He was the 
whetstone of the wits of his day ;" 

-The very bellows 



And tinder-box of all his fellows." 

They called him '' the leg stretcher " and the ^' furcifer," for 
it was through him that the fork became mate to the knife. 
Knives had been used many ages, but the wedding between it 
and the fork was now regularly solemnized ; no one forbid the 
bans, and this stirring gentleman was the father on the occasion, 
without a possibility of a divorce. I must observe, that among 
the many presents which were continually flowing in to Queen 
Elizabeth, she had one presented to her by her lord keeper, Sir 
John Puckering, when on a visit to him at Kew, 1595 ; which 
had " a fair agate handle," but it was laid by in her cabinet 
of oddities. t Tom, in his " Crudities," tells his readers : " I 

* Lord Byron relates the following anecdote in his detached thoughts : 
'« When Brummel was obliged (by that affair of poor M — , who thence 
acquired the name of Dick the dandy-killer, it was about money, and debt, 
and all that) to retire to France, he knew no French ; and, having obtained 
a grammar for the purpose of study, our friend Scrope Davies was asked 
what progress Brummel had made in French ; he responded, that Brummel 
had been stopped, like Buonaparte in Russia, hy the elements." 

t In the wardrobe account of King Edward I. is mentioned " a pair of 
knives with sheathes of silver enamelled, and a fork of crystal." 

Before forks were introduced, I should think it was often needful to remind 
the younger part of a family of the following lines, from Ovid ; 

" Your meat genteelly with your fingers raise ; 
And, as in eating there is a certain grace, 
Beware with greasy hands, lest you besmear your fac©" 



172 THE SOCIAL HlSlUKi OY GREAT BRITAIN- 

observed a custom in all these Italian cities The Italians, and 
altnost all strangers that are cornaorants, do always use a little 
fork when they eat their meat : for while with their knife, 
Avhich they hold in one hand, they cut the meat out of the dish, 
they fasten their fork, which they hold in their other hand ; so 
that whatsoever he be that, sitting in the company of any other 
at meais, should unadvisedly touch the dish of meat with his 
fingers from which all at the table do eat, he will give occasion 
of offence unto the company, as having transgressed the laws 
of good manners ; insomuch that for his errors he shall be at 
least brow-beaten. They were of iron and steel, and some of 
them of silver, but those only used by gentlemen. Being once 
equipped for that frequent using of my fork by a certain learned 
gentleman, Mr. Laurence Whittalrer, who, in his merry humour, 
doubted not to call me at table Furcifer, only for using a fork 
at table, but for no other cause."* 

He also thus speaks of umbrellas : 

" Also many of them do carry other things of a far greater 
price, which will cost at the least a ducat ; they call it an um- 
brella — that is, a thing which minister shadow unto them, for 
shelter against the scorching heat of the sun. These are made 
of leather, something answering to the form of a little canopy, 
and hooped in the inside with divers little wooden hoops, that 
extend the umbrella in a pretty large compass. They are 
used especially by horsemen when they ride, b}'- fastening the 
end of the handle upon one of their thighs and supporting it 
by the hand : they impart so long a shadow unto them, that it 
keepeth the heat of the sun from the upper part of their bodies." 

How slow do some useful things become in general use. The 
umbrella, although thus mentioned in 1611, was only used by 
a few females about the middle of last century : it was then 
called a parapleki. The meek and amiable Jonas Hanway 
first used them in London a few years before his death, which 
happened in 1786. They were first used at Glasgow, Scotland, 
in 1781. 

In the " Crudities " there is also mentioned another oddity 
which was in use — a champinny. He observed them " at 
Venice. They are made of wood, covered over with leather, 
which they wear under their shoes, and which raise the wearer 
as high as half a yard." They were in use in England ; for 
Shakspeare,"!" in Hamlet, says ; 

* According to Ritson, (Notes on Shakspeare's " Timon of Athens,") 
'• it was usual to carry knives about the person. There was often a stone 
hanging behind the door to whet them on." In Elizabeth's regulation about 
apprentices, they were not to have any sharp instrument about them 
except a knife. t He calls them a choppine. 



FEMALE EDUCATION. 173 

" By 'r lady, your ladyship is nearer heaven than when I saw 
You la^t, by the altitude of a choppine." 

If cruel, covetous, all-conquering death had not thus early 
snatched bustling Tom away, he would have visited China, to 
examine that queer people, whp say 

" Their backs have borne eight thousand years 
The birch and the bamboo." 

With one more extract from the learned Ensor, altering, or 
rather adding^ one word, and I will finish this chapter on foreign 
travel. 

" What principally renders the English ' Americans ' most 
intelligent and liberal ? They are the greatest travellers ; the 
nature of their government effects much ; but that curiosity 
and enterprise which sends them about in all directions, tends 
eminently to assure them that proud rank which they enjoy 
in the intellectual world. Would to God that their attention 
in distant nations was more directed to the substantial interests 
of knowledge ! This is my wish ; but it is my supplication 
that my countrymen conduct themselves abroad with marked 
decorum ; and, according to their deportment, they not only are 
received well or ill, but they raise or depreciate the reputation 
of their country." 



FEMALE EDUCATION. 

" We are permitted no books but such as tend to the weakening and 
effeminating our minds. We are taught to place all our art in adorning our 
persons, while our minds are entirely neglected." 

Lady Mary Wortley Montague. 

If ever there was a period in English history that may be 
said to be a test of the female character and its capabilities, it 
surely was the period prior to the reign of the Stuarts. For 
the previous two reigns the government was not a monarchy, 
but (as the present under Victoria) agynarchy, which produced 
several excellent women ; and so also did the period of the 
commonwealtlv, in which the bravery of the women equalled 
that of the men. If there are those who still doubt the pow- 
ers of the female mind, perhaps it would be proper for them to 
consider whether their conduct is not dishonourable : they ex- 
claim that women are impotent beings, yet they will scarcely 
admit them a tolerable education ; and a literary woman is tiieir 

15* 



174 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

everlasting scorn. However, the perusal of any popular biogra- 
phy would undeceive them. 

" Look back who list unto the former ages, 
And call to count what is of them become ; 
Where be those learned wits and antique sages 
Which of all whisdome knew the perfect somme'?" Spenser. 

I will give a short account of a few, to stimulate farther 
inquiry. 

The following is an account of Lady Fanshavv^e, who was the 
v/ife of Sir Richard Fanshawe, treasurer of the navy under 
Prince Rupert, and translator of the works of Louis de Camoens. 
She accompanied him in his embassies, and compiled memoirs of 
her own life, which have as yet never been published, and which 
is to be regretted, as they contain many interesting anecdotes 
of the time, told with a cheerful simplicity. " In the spring 
of 1649 I accompanied my husband on a voyage from Gal way 
to Malaga : we pursued our way with prosperous winds, but a 
most tempestuous master, a Dutchman, (which is enough to 
say,) but truly I think the greatest beast I ever saw of his kind. 
When we had just passed the straits we saw coming toward 
us a Turkish galley, well manned, and we believed we should 
be carried away for slaves ; for our man had so ladened his ship 
with goods for Spain, that his guns were useless, although she 
carried sixt}''. He called for brandy, and, after he and his men, 
who were near ,200, had well drunken, he called for arms, and 
cleared the deck as well as he could, resolving to fight rather 
than lose his ship, worth £30,000. This was sad for us pas- 
sengers ; but my husband bid us to be sure to keep in the cabin, 
and not appear, which would make the Turk think we were 
men-of-war ; but that, if they saw women, they would board us. 
He went up on deck, taking with him a gun and a sword. This 
beast of a captain had locked me up in my cabin ; I knocked, 
and called to no purpose, until the cabin-boy came and opened 
the door. I, all in tears, desired him to give me his thrum 
cap and tarred coat, which he did ; I gave him half a crown, 
and, flinging away my night-clothes, put them on : I crept softly 
on deck, and stood by my husband's side, as free from sickness 
and fear as, I confess, 1 was from discretion ; but it was the 
effect of that passionate love for him which I could never 
master. By this time the two vessels were engaged in close 
parley, and so well satisfied with each other's force, that the 
Turk's man-of-war tacked about, and we continued our course. 
But when your father saw it convenient to retreat, looking upon 
me, he blessed himself, and snatched me up in his arms, saying, 
* Good God ! that love can make this change !' and, thoug}> ha 



FEMALE EDUCATION. 1T5 

seemingly chid me, he would laugh at it as often as he remem- 
bered the voyage." 

Sir Richard adhered to the royal interest, and was engaged 
in the battle of Worcester, where he was taken prisoner : he 
was confined at Whitehall until a dangerous sickness, that 
threatened his life, procured his enlargement on bail. " During 
the time of his imprisonment," Lady Fanshawe says, " I failed 
not, when the clock struck four in the morning, to go with a 
dark lantern in my hand, all alone, and on foot, to Whitehall, 
by the entry that went out of King's-street into the bowling 
green ; there I would go under his window and call him softly. 
He, excepting the first time, never failed to put out his head 
at the first call ; thus we talked together, and sometimes I was 
quite wet through with rain." 

This affectionate lady accompanied her husband when ambas- 
sador from Charles II. to the court of Spain ; but in 1666 he 
was recalled. This recall is said to have broken his heart. 

" In trouble to be troubled 
Is to have our sorrows doubled." Spanish Proverb. 

Oh ! ye who love sincerity and truth, read the following. It 
is calculated " to revive the heart of any one, even were he sink- 
ing under the very ribs of death." " On the 15th of June my 
husband was taken very sick with a disorder like the ague, but 
it turned to a malignant inward fever, of which he languished 
until the 26th, and then departed this life. The queen-mother 
of Spain invited me to stay with my children at court, promising 
me a pension of a thousand ducats a year providing I would 
embrace the Roman Catholic religion. This I declined, and 
was thus left with five children, a distressed fanaily, the temp- 
tation to change my religion, the want of all friends, without 
counsel, out of my own country, and without any means of 
returning with my wretched family to it." 

This excellent lady, whose memoirs were intended for the 
instruction of her son, in speaking of her husband, says : " Our 
aims and designs were one ; our loves one ; our resentments 
one ; we so studied one the other, that we knew each other's 
mind by our looks." 

" Thrice happy they whose hearts are tied 
In love's mysterious knot so close 
No strife, no quarrels can divide, 

And only death, fell death, can loose." Horace. 

This excellent lady is fully described in the following lines : 

" A perfect woman, nobly plann'd 

To warn, to comfort, and command ; 
And yet a spirit still and bright, 

With something of an angel light." Wordsworth, 



176 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

There was Anne Killigrew, according to Wood, " A grace 
for beauty and a muse for wit." As a classical scholar, she 
was a match for many of the scavans of the day. 

There v/as also Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, " who 
was a great builder, a buyer and seller of estates, a money- 
lender, a farmeresse, a merchant of lead, coals, and timber."* 
Doubtless she had male assistants, but she, with great acute- 
ness and with the usual penetration of her sex, superintended 
them. 

There was the celebrated Countess of Derby, who defended 
Latham House for two years against the parliamentary forces, 
until it was battered down about her ears. " The bravest fall, 
but only cowards yield." A bomb-shell burst in the room 
where she and her family were taking their meal, on which 
she immediately ordered her defenders to make a sally, which 
drove the assailants from their trenches, and took the mortar. 
She returned an answer by a flag of truce, soliciting a surrender, 
that she would hang the next that came upon the same errand. 
She encouraged her faithful defenders to remain by her, saying : 

" Like the dwarf oak upon the desert plain, 
We'll mock the tempest as it brays around us, 
* And bid defiance to the blast that rends us." 

The heroic Countess of Cumberland had the Castle of Ap- 
pleby fortified, and the command given to her neighbour. Sir 
Phillip Musgrave, against Cromwell. When Sir Joseph Wil- 
liamson, secretary of state, nominated a candidate for her 
borough of Appleby, she sent him word, " I have been bullied 
by a usurper, slighted by the court, but I will not be dictated 
to by a subject : your man shan't stand." 

The mother and maids of George Abbot, with eight men, 
defended Caldecot Hall, in Warwickshire, successfully in 1642, 
against Prince Rupert with eighteen troops of horse. All the 
pewter dishes and plates were melted into bullets on this 
occasion by the women. 

In the time of the commonwealth there was a rising in the 
west of England under Colonels Grove, Penruddock, Hunt, and 
some others : they were defeated, and some tried and executed. 
Hunt, who was the ancestor of the radical Henry Hunt, and, 
like him, was imprisoned in Ilchester jail, was to have been 
executed ; but two of his sisters visited him there, and one of 
them (Margery) changed clothes with him, and so her brother 
effected his escape, which is quite as heroic a deed as was per- 
formed some years past by Madame Lavalette in France. f 

* Reed. t Hunt's Memoirs. 



FEMALE EDUCATION. 177;. 

<' Thus true fortitude shows itself in great exploits, 
That justice warrants and that reason guides." 

From George Fox's journal I find he was to be tried in 1656 ; 
being on his 'apostolic tour, he sent for Anne Downer, from 
London to Launceston, in Cornwall, to take down the trial 
in short hand.* 

It has been said that " in love, as in hatred, woman knows no 
measure," as is proved by the following quotation from the " Ex- 
cellencies of the Female sex," by H. C. Agrippa : " When our 
Saviour rose from the dead he appeared first to women, not to 
men ; and it is manifest that, after the death of Jesus Christ, 
the men forsook the faith, but it has never been found that the 
women ever abandoned the Christian religion. Our Saviour 
was betrayed, sold, bought, accused, condemned, suffered, was 
crucified, and finally given to death by no other than men. He 
was denounced by St. Peter, his disciple, and forsaken by all 
the others, and was accompanied to the cross and the sepul- 
chre solely by the women. Women were last at the cross and 
first at the grave." The following extract is by Count Segur, 
a French author. I give it for its fairness and from its general 
good sense : " An Englishman, by his habits and his taste for 
business, has subjected his wife to solemn rules for the regula- 
tion of her conduct ; and has, consequently, marked her naanners 
Dy an apparent gravity. More thoughtful than communicative, 
especially with women, there is established between himself 
and his wife a contract, rather of power than of tenderness, of 
submission than of confidence, of concealed passion than of 
sympathy, of sentiment than a unison of opinion. To form 
the mind and heart of woman ought, according to my opinion, 
to be almost the sole aim of education. The heart of females 
is the o-uardian of their character, and their mind that of their 
conduc't. The education of men embraces many objects. But 
when a woman is mild, polished, and gifted with sensibility, 
at the same time that her mind has received the necessary 
deo-ree of cultivation to render her company and conversation 
en?ertaining and agreeable, what more can be desired P\ 

Lavater°writes : " A woman, whose ruling passion is not 
vanity, is superior to any man of equal qualities. "t 

The following stanzas, by the Poet Drayton, a countryman 
and cotemporary with Shakspeare, will give some idea of the 
education and qualifications of a knight's daughter : 

* To show the state of morals at that time, he said the sheriff told 
him there were only thirty people at the sessions for bastardy ; which, 
considering the small population of the county, was a very great number. 

t Aphorism, 440. 



178 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

" He had, as antique stories tell, 
A daughter cleaped Dowsabell, 

A mayden fayre and free : 
And, for she was her father's heirc. 
Full well she was y-cond the leyre 

Of mickle curtesie. 

The silke well couth she twist and twine, 
And make the fine March pine,* 

And with the needle werke : 
And she couth helpe the priest to say 
His mattins on a holyday, 

And sing a psaline in kirke. 

She ware a frock of frolicke greene, 
Might well beseems a mayden queena, 

Which seemly was to see ; 
A hood to that so neat and fine, 
In colour like the columbine, 

Y-wrought full featously. 

Her features all as fresh above, 

As is the grasse that growes by Dove ; 

And lyth as lasse of Kent. 
Her skin as soft as Lem'ster wooll, 
As white as snow on peakish hull,t 

Or swanne that swims in Trent. 

This mayden in a morne betime 

Went forth, when May was in her prime, 

To get sweete cetywall.t 
The honey-suckle, the harlocke, 
The lilly, and the lady-smocke, 

To deck her summer hall." 

From Percy''s Reliques of old English Poetry. 

However, the motto from Lad}'' Mary Wortley Montague is 
too close a description of what the education really was, as far 
as books were concerned. The rest was really practical. 

Hollingshed says, in his time '' the females knit or net the 
nets for sportsmen. 

" Fine feme stitch, finny stitch, new stitch, and chain stitch, 
Brave broad stitch, fischer stitch, Irish stitch, and queen's stitch, 
The Spanish stitch, rosemary stitch, and mowse stitch, 
All these are good, and these we must allow, 
And these are everywhere in practice now." 

A writer of the days of Queen Bess thus describes a wealthy 
person's house and the management : " He inhabits a large 

* March pine, or March pane, according to Richardson, was a confection 
of almonds, pistachio nuts, sugar, and rose water. Steevens declares our 
macaroons to be only debased and diminutive March panes. 

t A high hill. t Herb valerian. 



FEMALE EDUCATION. 179 

building, half castle and half house, crowded with servants, many 
of whom were only serviceable as fillers up of the blank spaces 
in the mansion ; but as they had been born in his service, so they 
would of course live and die in it. The family rose at day- 
break and assembled at prayers, which were read by the family 
chaplain. Then came breakfast ; after which the master of the 
household and his sons got on the saddle, went a hunting, 
followed by some score of mounted attendants ; while the lady 
and her daughters superintended the buttery, prescribed the 
day's task for the spinning-wheels, dispensed the medicines 
to the ailing, concocted all sorts of simples for the sick and 
infirm, and dealt out bread, meat, and beer to the poor at 
the gate ; then making confections and preserves, spinning 
and brewing, or embroidering some battle or hunting piece. 
At noon, to dinner in the great hall ; after dinner, some exciting 
amusements in-door, if weather would not permit gardening or 
fishing ; after supper, the amusing and enlivening madrigals 
filled up the time till bed-time, at sunset." This writer gives 
an account of rather a larger library than the one described on 
pages 114 and 116. ^^ 

He speaks of six or eight large volumes of Wynken de 
Worde r this was their miscellaneous reading. " Their religion 
from the Bible and ' The Practice of Piety ;' their Protestant- 
ism and horror of Catholicism from ' Fox's Book of Martyrs ;' 
their chivalrous lore from ' Froissart's Chronicles ' and the 
* Merrye Gests of Robin Hood ;' their morality and sentiment 
from * The Seven Wise Masters ' or ^ The Seven Champions 
of Christendom.' " 

Of the country ladies, those who had not learned the fashions 
and frivolities of London, we may judge of from what Lord 
Clarendon tells us in his Life ; that his grandfather, in James L's 
time, had never been in London after the death of Elizabeth, 
though he lived thirty years afterward ; and his wiie, to whom 
he had been married forty years, had never once visited the 
metropolis, of which fact he makes this interesting and impor- 
tant observation : " The wisdom and frugality of that time 
being such that few gentlemen made journeys to London, or any 
other expensive journey, but upon important business, and their 
wives never ; by which providence they enjoyed and improved 
their estates in the country, and kept hospitality, brought up 
their children well, and were beloved by their neighbours." A 
lady of this description was chiefly represented " as a notable 
character " (no bad designation) and a quiet drudge. And if 
she did not become a politician, as those figuring in the London 
circles generally did, she most commonly settled down into the 
amiable character of a Lady Bountiful, and occupied herself 



180 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

in supplying the poor of the village with money, the industrious 
with work, the idle and vicious with good counsel and proper 
rebuke, and the sick with medicines and cordials. In this last 
department many of them became so presumptuous that no 
ailment was too hard for them, from a toothache to a pestilence, 
from the stroke of a cudgel to that of a thunderbolt. 

Their remedies for the most part were those of the verriest 
quackery. One of their favourite remedies for consumption was 
that which they called snail pottage. This was a whole peck 
of garden snails washed in small beer, and fried, shells and all, 
in a frying-pan, with a quantity of earth-worms, mingled with 
abundance of herbs, spices, and drugs. This curious compound 
must have been invented by those who believed thalt " that 
which will not poison will fatteri.''^ In others of their vile pre- 
paration there were as much of cruelty as of loathsomeness 
and absurdity. For instance ; to make oil of swallows, some 
ten or twelve swallows were pounded alive in a mortar, with 
many other queer ingredients : in making what was called 
c — k water, the bird had to be plucked alive. Sometimes also 
the planets were necessary to make the charm successful ; as, 
for instance, one of their medicines into which the tips of crabs' 
claws entered largely, the rule was, they should be gathered 
when the sun enters cancer.* Many of the possets and resto- 
ratives — in short, the whole which filled this receipt book, would 
require the nerves as well as the cauldron of the weird sisters 
to prepare them. The practices in question were chiefly con- 
6ned to staid elderly ladies, the wife of the nobleman, squire, 
t>r vicar, some well-doweried widow or considerate spinster, 
who, with abundance of me^ns and inclination, had unfortu- 
nately, as is too often the case with poor frail mortals, stumbled 
upon the wrong path. But it ought to admonish us not to 
mterfere in matters which we do not understand ; for, though 
we may be inclined to interfere with the pure motive of good 
intentions, it should be recollected there is an old maxim, that 
'* the naughty place is said to be paved with good intentions ;" 
if so, good intentions are but a poor excuse. 

One of these ladies bound upon such a visit, surrounded, as 
she was, with much impatience, from her age, her station in 
life, and benevolent conduct — followed by her loaded abigail, 
panting and perspiring under the cartel of medicinal benevo- 
lences, must have been a formidable, no less than an exhilarating, 
spectacle. We may conceive the deep and low-muttered 
curses of the village doctor, whose office was thus reduced to 
a starving, and perhaps a bloodless, sinecure ; the shudder of 
her patients when her footsteps were heard upon the honey- 
* " The Queen's Closet Opened." 



MALE EDUCATION. iSl 

suckle decorated cottage threshold, or when her nostrums 
were unpacked, to be gulped down under her ow n eye ; and the 
annoyances she must have inflicted upon those whose cases were 
considered hopeless, until they must be glad to escape from such 
unbounded and unfounded benevolences in good earnest. 

From Ker's " English Rhymes and Nursery Phrases," 
(1834,) it appears that many of the old childish songs and 
nursery sayings are of Dutch origin. App. xvi. 



MALE EDUCATION. 

"His eye was meek and gentle, and a smile 
Play'd on his lips ; and in his speech were heard 
Paternal sweetness, dignity, and love. 

Learning grew, 

Beneath his care, a thriving, vig'rous plant : 
The mind was informed, the passions held 
Subordinate, and diligence was choice." Cowper. 

There were plenty of schools wherein both Greek and Latin 
were taught : indeed they were so numerous that Lord Bacon 
wished some repressed. 

Ascham describes school-masters as badly paid : he says 
they " pay more for taking care of a horse than educating their 
children," which drew forth from him this reflection, " that 
they took more pleasure in their horses than their children." 

" Hierom (epistle lib. 1, L(2ta de institut jilice) gives a most 
especial charge to all parents, and many good cautions about 
Dringing up of children, that they be not committed to undis- 
creet, bedlam tutors, light, giddy-headed, or covetous persons ; 
and spare for no costs, that they may be well nurtured and 
.aught, it being a matter of so great consequence. For such 
parents as do otherwise Plutarch esteems like them that are more 
careful of their shoes than of their feet, that rate their wealth 
above their children. And he (saith Cardan) that leaves his 
son to a covetous scholar to be informed^ or to a close ahhy to 
fast and learn wisdom together, doth no other than that he he a 
learned fool or a sickly wise man.''''* 

The school-master was often combined with the reputation 
of a conjurer. Ben Jonson says : " I would have ne'ere a 
cunning school-master in Englande,; I meane a cunning man that 
*s a conjurer." According to both Ascham and Peacham, they 
were both ignorant and tyrannical. " It is a general plague and 

* Butler's "Anatomy of Melancholy." 
16 



182 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

complaint of the whole lande ; for, for one discreet and able 
teacher, you shall finde twentie ignorant and carelesse, and 
where they make one scholar they marre ten."* My motto, 
therefore, finely expresses what they should have been, rather 
than what they were ; and the next quotation, from Butler, will 
explain one part, and that the real part, of their conduct that 
cannot be sufficiently reprobated : 

" Whipping, that's Virtue's governess, 
Tutr'ress of arts and sciences ; 
That mends the gross mistakes of nature, 
And puts new life into dull matter." 

This cruel writer does not perceive that one great cause of 
children's falsehoods, the crime of lying ^ proceeds from the 
severity of their teachers ; as children do commit errors, and 
knowing they will be both severely and perhaps unjustly pun- 
ished, they are induced to tell a lie to save their carcass. The 
judicious Ensor observes : " Jewish ordinances, aided by the 
penances imposed by religion on its priests, caused the ferula 
and rod to be the Catholic means of education. The inflictions 
of the cloisters w^ere easily transferred to the school-room by 
those who were the directors of both." 

To this charge of undue severity may be added the accusa- 
tion of frequent immorality and buffoonery, which, for obvious 
reasons, I shall omit quoting ; there can be no need of ingrail- 
ing ancient crimes upon the modern stock, which are sufficiently 
productive. But 

"It lawful was of old, and still will be, 
To speak of vice, but let the name go free." 

"At Trinity College I knew one who would, on a cold morn- 
ing in winter, whip his boys once over, for no other purpose 
than getting himself a sweate ; another would beat them for 
swearing, and all the while would sweare himselfe most terri- 
ble oathes."! 

The substance of a finished education was a little Latin and 
less Greek beaten into him at one of the public establishments, 
or by the thwackum of some martinetj of a domestic school- 
room. 

When the youth had been whipped through the parts of 
speech, interjections, and all, and driven through a few frag- 
mental portions of the classics, and was able to construct a few 
" nonsense verses " upon his fingers, he was then qualified to 
shine equally in the senate or at a masquerade. 

* Complete Gentleman. t Hollingshed. X A strict disciplinarian. 



MALE EDUCATION. 



isS 



To t\iese he added the accomplishment of dancing, and per- 
haps a little music ; as for science, that was out of the ques- 
tion, (except it was pugilistic,) being deemed suitable only for 
professional characters. 

The grand finish to such an education was the tour of Eu- 
rope, and forth went the boy accordingly, often in leading- 
strings, to gaze at streets, rivers, mountains, rocks, water-falls, 
and lakes. " Nothing is more frequent," says the Spectator, 
" than to take a lad from grammar and taw, and, under the 
tuition of some poor scholar who is willing to be banished for 
.£30 per year and a little victuals, send him, crjn'ng and snivel- 
ling, into foreign countries. Thus he spends his time as chil- 
dren do at puppet-shows, and much to the same advantage, in 
staring and gaping at an amazing variety of strange things ; 
strange indeed, to one who is not prepared to comprehend them, 
without the solid foundation of knowledge in his mind, and 
furnished with rules to direct his future conduct through life 
under some skilful master in the art of instruction." 

Such tourists naturally picked up in their rambles what was 
most easily acquire ; the fashions, the frivolities, and the vices 
of foreign countries, which they imported into England, and 
ingrafted upon the native stock. 

Having given a chapter on foreign travel, it will be perceived 
that this chapter applies to the latest part of our period. 

Before the reign of Charles II. the education was different. 
There w-as then other intellectual requirements besides mere 
book learning. 

" If not to some peculiar end designed, 
Reading is a specious trifling of the mind." Young. 

Indeed, mere book learning is but a small part, and perhaps 
the least part, of education. Their education comprised various 
active exercises of a military character, and also the sports of 
the field ; consequently, most of the gentry v/ere ready at once 
" to stride the war-horse " on the breaking out of the civil wars. 

In some of the old monastic schools, which, according to Dr. 
Dunham, began during the period of Pope Boniface, there 
was more learning, and far better discipline, (perhaps too 
severe.) This learned Protestant historian says : " Very little 
has been added to our knowledge of grammar ; in logic^ the 
improvement is insignificant ; in theology^ below the first four 
centuries of the Cliristian era ; in morah^ or political or meta- 
physical philosophy^ we have little reason to boast ; in poetry 
we are inferior ; but in history we are much superior." 

In England at this time the monastics are reviving : they 
were permitted to creep on during the whole of the French 



184 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN- 

revolutionary wars, to allow the Catholic nobility and gentry an 
opportunity to have their sons educated at home. But the act 
of 10 Geo. IV., ch. vii., commonly called the emancipation act, 
has completely legalized them. 

An Hircocervus^ or Man Animal — At Wyckham's College, 
Winchester, there is now remaining an instance of the fondness 
of our ancestors for placing up judicious advice to those intrusted 
to their charge : they were forcibly alive to the propriety of 
placing constantly before the eye good maxims, a custom, I am 
sorry to say, now nearly out of use. 

There is a painting on the walls addressed to the servants. 
It is styled " The Trusty Servant," in Latin and English. I 
will give the English. 

" A trusty servant's portrait would you see, 
This emblematic figure well survey ; 
The porker's snout not nice in diet shows, 
The padlock's shut, no secrets he'll disclose ; 
Patient the ass his master's wrath will bear, 
Swiftness in errand the stagg's feet declare ; 
Loaded his left hand apt to labour saith, 
The vest his neatness, open hand his faith ; 
Girt with his sword, his shield upon his arm, 
Himself and master he'll protect from harm." 

At the end of the school-room is another inscribed, with 
symbols, as follows : 

A J T\- / ii, 1 \ i A mitre and crosier, as the expected 
Aut JJtsce, (either learn,) < j r i • 

' ^ ( reward or learning. 

A ^ T\ J / J • \ i An ink-horn to sign, and a sword 
Aut JJiscede, (or depart,) < ^ r ^^ ■ 

' ^ ^ " ( to enforce, expulsion. 

Manet Sors Tertia Cczdi, \ . 

(the third choice is to be flogged,) J » 

accompanied with some excellent rules in Latin for the 
students.* 

Admonitions of this sort, often presented from the eye to the 
mind, must cause reflection ; and, except the party is really 
incorrigible, much good must arise. 

The church floors in their tesselated pavements proclaimed 
wise sentiments and instructive histories. There is an old 
Latin maxim, " It is better to trust to our eyes than our ears ;" 
and, agreeable to this notion, even in the chimney-corners of 
the houses were introduced Dutch tiles, on which Scriptural 
quotations, and other instructive admonitions and histories, were 
continually conveying silent instruction. Society, I conceive, 
has lost much by abandoning this salutary custom. " That the 

* This noble room is ninety feet long, thirty-six feet broad, and suitably 
lofty. See "Milner's History of Winchester." 



£ s. 


d. 


1 4 





12 





- 6 


6" 



MALE EDUCATION. 185 

tempers, the sentiments, the morality of men are influenced by 
the examples and dispositions of those they converse with, is a 
reflection which has long passed into a proverb, and has been 
ranked among the standing maxims of human wisdom."* How 
wise, therefore, is it to keep such proverbs and maxims con- 
tinually before the juvenile mind. Mallet justly observes : 

" Who means to build his happy reign 
On this best maxim, wise and plain, 
(Though plain, how seldom understood,) 
Thai to be great, he must be good.'" 

In this ancient city was formed, after the great plague in 1666, 
the " Native's Society," for the relief of widows and orphans. 
In the third year after it was formed, at a feast then given, the 
following prices were given for wine, &c. : 

" Paid for twelve bottles of sacke, - - - 
« " " clarrett, - - - 

" 22lbs. of tobacco, and pipes, - - 

The following extract from " Widows and Widowers " will 
explain a point not universally known in this country, of the 
advantages which " men well born and in good circumstances 
have of moulding themselves into the most fascinating com- 
panions, if not the most useful members of society. They 
have access to noble libraries ; they are in daily familiarity 
with exquisite pictures; they look from their windows upon 
what is fair and noble in landscape ; or, if in London, their 
taste may be elevated by a communion with the highest order 
of intellect. Their childhood is generally passed among objects 
of historic interest or in scenes of picturesque beauty. Then 
these old colleges, to which, 'ere the associations of home are 
destroyed, they repair : how stately in exterior, how fastidi- 
ously preserved ! what pictures, what chapels, what men who 
move about in those aisles and quadrangles in a peculiar garb, 
associated in our thoughts with clerical dignity, and with 
learning and purity ! 

" From such scenes and companions men of condition issue 
into the world to travel, to see, to learn, to admire ; and if they 
have only gathered up the weeds which sprang up in their 
young haunts ; if they have driven coaches when they might 
have bestrode Arabians fleet and graceful ; if they have smoked, 
and drank, and sunk into the lowest of all things, a degraded 
aristocracy — it is not the fault of their station, which promises 
and offers all that is noble and fair, and, if they choose to 
make it so, excellent." 

* Rogers 
16* 



186 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



LADIES' DRESS. 

*' This is the place where, if a poet 
Shined iu description, he might show it." Byron. 

Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe. — The following articles 
were in the ordinary wardrobe of Queen Elizabeth in 1600 : " 99 
robes, 102 French gowns, 67 round-gowns, 100 loose-gowns, 
126 kirtels, 136 foreparts, 125 petticoats, 96 petticoats, 31 
cloaks and safeguards, 13 safeguards, 43 safeguards and jupes, 
85 doublets, 18 lappe mantles, 27 fans, nine pair pantoufles, 
(slippers.") 

This account was exclusive of her state wardrobe, which 
contained her coronation, her mourning, her parliamentary 
robes, and those of the order of the garter ; smd also exclusive 
of w^ardrobes which she had containing many dresses laid by 
in her several palaces. She was so exceedingly fond of her 
clothes, she never could be prevailed upon to part with any, 
although she had many curiously rich and beautiful dresses 
given to her. At her death she had, in her different ward- 
robes, three thousand different habits, all of which she had 
worn in her life-time ; and also some of her sister Mary's. 

All her winter dresses were furred with ermine. This beau- 
tiful fur is an heraldric emblem of chastity ; and she, according 
to the court WTiters of the time, was " the maiden queen." 

What a treat would this wardrobe be at this day, could it 
be seen in all its richly decorative splendour. How many hints 
and suggestions would it furnish to manufacturers, seamstresses, 
dyers, and embroiderers. 

" 1572. Gentlewomen virgins weare gownes close to the 
bodye, and aprons of fine linen ; go bare-headed, with their hair 
curiously knotted and raised at the forehead ; but many, against 
the cold as they say, weare caps of hair that is not their own." 

In the country the elderly women, or those in indifferent 
circumstances, usually wore mufflers. The annexed engraving 
represents a country woman attired for market. 

1574. Nash, speaking of lawn caps, says : " They were as 
white as snow, resembling silver curlings." 

Venice and Paris were the sources of the fashions. The 
French hood consisted of gauze or muslin reaching from the 



back of the head down over the forehead, leaving the hair 
exposed on each side. Cauls or nets of gold were thrown over 
their glossy tresses. There were often introduced on the hair 
artificial pea-shells, with rows of pearls for the peas, seldom 
less than nine in each shell being used. 



ladies' dress. 



187 





An English Gentlewoman. 



A Country Woman with Muffler. 



The lady's morning-cap was usually a mob, and the rich 
citizen's wife's either a splendid cap, or a fur one of miniver, 
with peaks three inches high, and three-cornered ; and the rest 
of her dress, if less costly and elegant, equally showy. 

Stubbes says : " Masks and mufflers were in general use ; the 
former made of velvet, wherewith, when they ride out, they 
cover all their face, having holes made to look through." 

The ruff was common to both sexes, but, under the fostering 
care of the ladies, was immensely large — so large as to require a 
long spoon to feed themselves. They attained, in fineness, 
size, and dimensions, the most extravagant pitch of absurdity — 
reaching to the very top of the head behind ; and the tenuity 
of the lawn or cambric of which they were made was such, 
that honest Stowe prophesied they would " weare ruffes of a 
spider's webe." In order to support so slender an article, they 
used starch. A Mrs. Dingen Van Plesse, in 1564, taught the 
art of starching, for v/hich she received a premium of five 
pounds sterling from each. Starching was improved by the 
introduction of various colours : one v/as yellow, from saffron, 
invented by a Mrs. Turner ; but as she was connected in the 



188 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT ERITAIIS 

murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, she suffered death, splendidly 
dressed, and in a large yellow ruff: after this that tint went 
out of fashion. 

The waist was large beyond all proportion : the bodice or 
stays, or, more classically speaking, the tunic, terminated in a 
point ; and in the forepart there was also a pocket for monej, 
needle-work, or billet-doux. 

In the language of Dekkar, this was the time to be fanned 
" by the soft wind of whispering silks." 

Gowns were made of the richest materials, with velvet capes 
embroidered with bugles, and sleeves curiously cut. Shak- 
speare, in " Taming of the Shrew," says, they were " cut and 
carved like an apple tart." 

The fashionable petticoat was the Scottish fardingale, made 
of cloth, taffety, satin, or other silks, of enormous bulk ; and 
over all was thrown a kirtel, mantle, or surtout, with or with- 
out a hood, formed of silk or velvet, and richly bound with 
lace. 

Before knitting, or poor Lee invented his knitting-frame, 
stockings used to be cut out of any sort of materials, agreeable 
to the means of the wearer or the season they were to be used. 
Silk stockings (wove) were first worn in 1560. 

The shoes were enormously high heeled. 

Small looking-glasses were suspended from the girdle. 
The pocket-handkerchief was richly wrought at the corners 
with gold and silver open work, and embroidery on all sides. 

Short jackets or doublets, with hanging or false sleeves, were 
worn at the latter end of James's reign. The ruff was suc- 
ceeded by the band or peckavidiloe, or piccadilly, from a shop 
at which it was bought, and which gave the name to a street 
now in much repute for fashionable shops, and a great thorough- 
fare. 

At the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth, this king's daugh- 
ter, there is a long list of sugar-loaf buttons, large and small, 
curious and expensive cloths of gold, brocaded silks, and other 
costly finery. This curious wardrobe account is still in 
existence, but too long for this work. 

There was a very great change, after the death of Queen 
Elizabeth, in the female habits and customs : that noble feel- 
ing of high, if not of haughty, self-respect which she so much 
laboured to keep about her court, speedily began to degenerate. 
Shirley says of them : 

We rise, make fine, 



Sit for our picture — and 'tis time to dine." 
The various little notions which commerce had introduced, 



ladies' dress. 1S§ 

rendered the dressing of a fine court lady as tedious as the har- 
nessing of the king's eight horse state coach. The different 
articles of her numerous raiments were carefully wrapped in 
cedar wood, and perfumed with musk or other odoriferous pre- 
parations.* The dressing of the hair was a most trying task, 
from the numerous love-locks and heart-breakers that required 
to be scented and curled, the artificial ringlets that were to be 
incorporated with the new, (the dead ends of the latter to be 
completely disguised ;) and the jewellery, flowers, and ribands 
to be all tastefully arranged and judiciously surmounted. Then 
there was to be a tasteful display of patches of court-plaster, 
laid on with the most sportive, bewitching taste. 

" Skilled in no other art was she 

But dressing, patching repartee ; 
And, just as humour rose or fell, 

By turns a slattern or a bell."t Goldsmith. 

Then came the lotions, unguents, and even paint. 

*' These painted faces which they wear, 
Can any tell from whence they camel" 

Asks the author of Restitutciy vol. 3, p. 257. If this question 
had been put to a reader of the Bible, he might have referred 
him to Jezebel, who painted her face : 

"Whose borrow'd tints bestow a lifeless grace ; 
None wear the same, yet none a diif'rent face." 

The French have a saying, that " a mottled sky and a painted 
lady do not long retain their beauty." 

The paint kept to their skins until after the protectorate of 
Cromwell, notwithstanding the scrubbing which they had to 
endure from the Puritan pulpits. 

They used fans of ostrich or peacock feathers, set in gold, 
silver, or ivory handles ; the using of which served to display 
their splendid perfumed bracelets, necklaces, rings, and gloves 
while they sat " breathing an air as sweet as damask roses. "J 

* The gratification of the nasal organ seems to have been early known. 
In Proverbs it is thus alluded to : " Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart ; 
so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel." 

t In the '* Last Days of Pompeii " is a very graphic description of " the 
dressing-room of a Pompeian beauty," which, if it could have been possible, 
one might have supposed our ancestors had imitated. 

} These splendid, but cumbrous, fans were similar to the feather brooms 
or_^y scarers now m use in the south. I conceive the most beautiful feather 
fan may be made of the tail feathers of a wild male turkey : the beautiful 
bronze black is rich and imposing. 



190 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

Monkeys and parrots were part of a wealthy lady's esta- 
blishment. Ben Jonson, in one of his characters, says : " The 
gentleman (I'll undertake him) is a man of fair living, and able 
to maintain a lady in her two caroches a day, besides pages, 
monkeys, parochitoes, with such attendants as she shall think 
meete for her inheritence." 

About 1662 ladies' silk scarfs were introduced from Portugal. 
" Women's maskes, buskes, mufFes, fannes, periwigs, and bod- 
kins were first denizened and used in Italie by courtizans."* 

The Puritan females were quite as contrary in their habits 
as their lords and masters, the males. They wore their heads 
closely covered with a hood, cap, coif, or high-crowned hat, 
very similar to the Welch women of the present day. 

There was a great change in the female costume during the 
reign of the elegant, but profligate, Charles II., but it was 
mostly confined to the high and wealth}'^ classes. They threw 
aside, with great disdain, the straight-laced Puritanical dress- 
ings, and appeared at court and abroad in a way that will be 
better understood than I dare attempt to describe, by the title 
of a pamphlet by a non-conformist divine — " A just and season- 
able reprehension of the enormity of naked breasts and shoul- 
ders." It contains an indignant censure of long trains, which 
he speaks of " as a monstrous superfluity of cloth or silke, 
that must be dragged after them." 

In 1663 Pep3^s tells us that vizards had become of late in 
great fashion among the ladies, so he bought one for his wife. 

This graphic court diarist gives an account of a ride, by the 
king and queen, in Hyde Park : " By and by the king and queen, 
who looked in this dress (a white laced waiscoat and a crimson 
short petticoat, and her hair a let negligence) mighty pretty, rode 
by, hand in hand, together. I followed them up into White- 
hall, and into the queen's presence, where all the ladies walked ; 
they were talking and fiddling with their hats and feathers, and 
changing and tiying one another's by one another's heads, and 
laughing. But above all, Mrs. Stewart, in her dress, with her 
cocked hat and a red plume, with her sweet eyes, little Roman 
nose, and excellent taille, is now the greatest beauty I ever saw 
in my life. My Lady Castlemaine was soon among them ; she 
looked mighty out of humour : she had a yellow plume in her 
hat, which all took notice of, yet she is very handsome." 

In 1663-4 silver-laced gowns are mentioned as being in high 
fashion. Yellow bird's-eye hoods were in vogue in 1665. 

" The riding-habits of the ladies were fashioned after the garb 
of the other sex. In 1666, walking in the galleries at White- 
hall, I find the ladies of honour dressed in their riding-garbs, 

* Stowe. 



ladies' dress. 



)91 



with coats and doublets, and buttoned up the breast, with peri- 
wigs and hats ; so that, only for a petticoat dragging under their 
men's coats, nobody could take them for women.'' This was 
He might have said : 



an odd sight. 



"To laugh were want of goodness and of grace, 
But to be grave exceeds all powers of face." 




Costume of the Commonwealth time of Charles II. 

MafFs were used by both sexes. They were very small, and 
fully ornamented at each end with ribands. The leopard skin 
muffs were in fashion in 1702. 

The ladies during the reign of William III., as anticipated, 
adopted the Dutch fashion. The stomacher appeared more 
uniformly laced, the sleeves of the gown became straight and 
tight, and terminated with a cuff above the elbow, in imitation 
of the male sex. Rows of flounces and furbelows, or falbalas, 
bordered the petticoat, which was disclosed by the gown being 
looped completely back, which made the gown behind look like 
a swallow-tailed coat ; the head-dress high in front, being com- 
posed in form of a cap, the lace of which rose in three or more 
tiers, from one to two feet high, almost to a point above the 
forehead, the hair being combed up and disposed in rows of 
wavy curls one above the other, but in a way which, to be fully 
understood, must be seen. I have given a Avood-cut, which is 
the best I can do j for I dare not, if I was able, raise their appa- 



192 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



Costume of the Nobility time of "William and Mart. 

rition, fearing my readers might exclaim, " we start, for soui 
is wanting there." 

There was not much change in the ladies' dresses during the 
early part of Queen Anne's reign ; but soon after came two great 
changes. The first was the abandonment of the monstrously 
high head-dresses, and caps, and tower commode, for a low, 
natural, and elegant coiffure, which was praised by Addison in 
the Spectator. The second alteration was the hoop, invented 
by a mantua-maker named Selby, in 1711, and which continued 
a court appendage through several reigns. Its discontinuance 
is announced by Mr. Rush, the American ambassador, in his 
" Memoranda of a Residence at the Court of George IIL," 
1833. It was well observed, that what the females lost in 
height they gained in bulk ; but the gain was similar to that 
of the foliage of the weeping willow — it was downward. 

The author of the " Book of Etiquette/' 1834, (and the 
writer responds to the description,) thus speaks of them 
" The hoop is laid aside, which I am. sorry for, as, after all, it 



ladies' dress. 



19^ 



was a beautiful relic of the olden time. To see a charming 
young lady rise out of her hoop was the prettiest sight in the 
world ; it looked like a gilded barricade containing an angel." 




The above cut will probably convey to the reader a better 
idea of the fashion, and more especially of the hoop dresses, at 
this period, (1711,) than would any description I could give. 

Among the curious changes of this century, one cannot help 
noticing they wore their clothes very long. Short petticoats 
were of an after period, which made a witty wag observe : 

" Of her fair legs she shows too much by half — 
The small of both, and almost all the calf." 
17 



194 



THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



The highly accomplished Baron Goethe observes : " With 
regard to dress, neither fancy nor neatness is sufficient ; it ought 
also to be graceful ;" which idea had been previously expressed 
in the following couplet : 

" Give me an air, give me a face, 
That makes simplicity a grace." Ben Jonson. 

The dress of a youth in the middle ranks of life is thus 
described in an advertisement issued in 1703. " He is of fair 
complexion, with light brown lank hair, having on a dark 
brown frieze coat double-breasted on each side, with black 
buttons and button-holes ; a light drugget waistcoat, red shag 
breeches striped with black stripes, and black stockings." 




Costume of the Common-alty time of William and Mart. 

/ 

The cut of the little girl will be sufficient, perhaps, for her 
dress to be understood. Green say was used for children's 
frocks ; also printed and glazed calico, made in London. 

I will now give the prices of some of the apparel, which, 
compared with the prices of the same articles at this time, 



gentlemen's dress. 195 

cannot fail to excite both wonder and surprise ; verily, a full 
furnished wardrol)e of that day contained a pretty little fortune. 

The durability and strength are also very remarkable : some 
years past, on a visit to Baginton Hall, Warwickshire, I put on 
the robe of Mr. Bromley, who was speaker of the house of 
commons in Queen Anne's reign. It was of black velvet, 
lined with taffeta, and loaded with most costly gold lace and 
brocade • the colours, although more than one hundred years 
old, still were good. 

The lace chamber, on Ludgate Hill, advertised, in 1710, one 
Brussels head, £40 ; one ground Brussels head at £30 ; one 
looped Brussels head at d630. Various wig-makers advertised 
them from five to forty guineas each. In the " Original Weekly 
Journal," 1720, it is stated that the hair of a woman who died 
at the age of 107, being perfectly white, was sold to a periwig- 
maker for £dO. A damask table-cloth at that time cost £18. 
Counterpanes from 50 to £100, quite ordinary prices. Drayton 
gives the following description of one on a state bed, 

" On which a tissue counterpane was cast, 
Arachne's web the same did not surpass ; 
Wherein the story of his fortunes past 
In lively pictures neatly handled was." 

Fine linen, made at Ipswich, sold at 15s. an ell. 

Lady Wotton, at the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth, 
daughter of King James, wore a profusely embroidered gown 
worth £50 per yard. Lord Montague spent £1500 on the 
dress of his two daughters. 



GENTLEMEN'S DRESSES. 

" Whether the 'great one's' sinner it or saint it, 
If folly grows romantic, I must paint it." Pope. 

The English people have always been fond of furs. " Fox, 
lamb, and sable skins were used for facing clothes, but the latter 
were restricted to the nobility ; 1000 ducats have been given for 
a facing of sable skin ; a suit trimmed with this article was the 
richest dress worn."* This writer might also have noticed 
that the gowns of the common council and the ma^'^ors of the 
cities or towns were usually trimmed with the fur of the martin 
cat, that being the handsomest native fur. 

" The beaver's flix 

Gives kindly warmth to weak, enervate limbs, 
When the pale blood slow rises through the veins." 
* Malone. 



196 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN 

Wardrobe of a Country Gentleman. — Extract from a 
will, dated 1573, in the prerogative court of Canterbury : 

" I give unto my brother, Mr. Wm. Sheeney, my best black 
gowne, garbed and faced with velvet, and my velvet cap ; also I 
will unto my brother, Thomas Marcall, my new sheepe-colored 
gowne, garbed with velvet and faced with cony, (rabbits' fur ;) 
also I will unto my son Tyble my shorte gowne, faced with 
wolf and laid with Bellement's lace ; also I will unto my 
brother Cowper my other shorte gowne, faced with fox skin ; 
also I will unto Thomas Walker my night-gowne, faced with 
cony, with one lace also, and my reddy (ruddy) colored hose ; 
also I will unto my man Thomas Swaine my doublet! of can- 
vass that Forde made mee, and my new gaskins made by 
Forde ; also I give unto John Wildinge a cassock of sheepe's 
colar, edged with pont's skins ; also I give unto John Woodlie 
my doublett of fruite canvass and my hose, with fryze bryches ; 
also I give unto Symonde Bishoppe, the smith, my other fryze 
jerkin with silk buttons ; also I give unto Adam Ashame my 
hose with the frendge, (fringe,) and lined with crane-colored 
silk, which gifts I will to be delivered immediately after my 
decease." 

Harrison, who wrote in 1580, complains that the gaudy trap- 
pings were coming into the rural and mercantile world. He 
says : " Neither was it merriere with England than when he 
was knowne abroad by his own clothes, and contented himself 
at home with his fine carsie hosen and a meane slop, his coate, 
gowne, and cloake of browne, blue, or puke, (puce,) with some 
prettie furniture of velvett or furre, and a doublette of sadde 
tawnie or black velvet, or other whalie silk, without such 
garrishe coloures as are nowe worne in these daies ; and never 
broughte in butte bye consent of the Frenche, who thinke 
themselves the gayest men when they have most diversitie 
of jagges and change of coloures about them." 

In 1582 Queen Elizabeth issued a proclamation regulating 
the apparel of the apprentices: " They were not to wear any 
apparel but what was given by their masters ; not to wear a 
hat in the city, but woollen caps without silk ; to wear no ruffles, 
cuffs, loose collars ; no doublets but what were made of canvass, 
fustian, sack-cloth, English leather, or woollen cloth, without 
gold, silver, or silk ; to wear no ether coloured cloth or kersey 
in hose or stockings than white, blue, or russet ; to wear little 
breeches, same stuff as doublets, without lace or bordering ; 
to wear no swords, daggers, nor other weapons, but a knife ; 
neither a ring, jewel of gold or silver, nor silk in any part." 

There was also an order during her reign relating to the 
dress, the beards, and the hair of the great lawyers. 



gentlemen's dress. 



19f 



King James did not go into mourning after Queen Eliza- 
jeth's death, nor suffered any one else- 

The chancellor of the University of Cambridge, on a visit 
of the king (James) there, 1615, issued an order admonishing 
the students against the fearful enormity and excess of apparel, 
as peccadilloes, vast bands, huge cuffs, shoe roses, tufts, locks 
and tops of hair, unbeseeming that modesty and carriage of 
students of so renowned a university. 

The neck-rufF was worn by both sexes. The bishops and 
judges were the last of the male sex to give them up. 

John Taylor, the water poet, and Ben Jonson, thus lash the 
dresses : 

" Wear in a farme edged with gold, 
And spangled garters worth a copyhold, 
A hose and doublette which a lordship cost, 
A gaudy cloak three manors worth almost ; 
A beaver band and feather for the head, 
Prized at the church's tithe — the poor man's bread." Taylok. 



" The Savoy chain about my neck, the ruff 
The cufF of Flanders ; then the Naples hat 
With the Rome band and the Florentine agate, 
The Milan sword, the cloak of Geneva set 
With Brabant buttons, all my given pieces, 
My gloves the natives of Madrid." Jonson. 

" The coxcomb in Shakspeare's time wore earrings, and, 
peacock-like, he displayed all his feathers." 

I have before stated that James was rather slovenly himself. 
A writer of the Court of King James, 1650, who signs himself 
Sir A. W., an eye-witness, says: " He would not change his 
clothes till they were very ragged, his fashion never ; insomuch 
that, one bringing to him a hat of a Spanish black, he cast it from 
him, saying, he neither loved them nor their fashions. ' Another 
time, bringing him roses on his shoes, he asked if they meant to 
make him a ruffed fool-dere ; one yard of sixpenny riband served 
that turn." But he encouraged the most sickening foppery in 
the courtiers that surrounded him.* 

When the royal driveller sent over that contemptible thing, 
Buckingham, to France, " stuck o'er with titles and hung 
round with strings," as ambassador special, to bring the Prin- 
cess Henrietta to England, he provided for the mission a suit 
of white uncut velvet and a cloak, both set all over with dia- 
monds, valued at £80,000 ; besides an aigrette made of dia- 
monds. His sword, girdle, hat-bands, and spurs were also set 

* See Strutt ; and play of " Westward Hoe," written by Jonson, Chap- 
man, and Marlowe, and printed in 1605. 

17* 



198 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

thick with these precious gems ; in fact, he was the king of 
diamonds personified. He had another suit with him, of purple 
satin, embroidered all over with pearls, valued at ^20,000 ; 
and also, in addition, he had five-and-twenty other dresses of 
j^reat and varied richness. In his suite he had throngs of 
nobles and gentles, and all attired in costly raiment for the pur- 
pose, in chains of gold or ropes of pearl, suitable for such an 
embassy. How truly do these men prove a remark of Juvenal : 
" Fools are best pleased with things that cost most money." 

The shape of the hat was very high, and in the form of a 
sugar-loaf, with a very large, slouching brim, and expensive 
bands. 

From " Youth's Behaviour, or Decency in Conversation 
among Men, composed in French by grave persons for the 
use and benefit of their youth, and translated into English by 
Francis Hawkins, nephew to Sir Thomas Hawkins, in 1668," 
he is instructed to '^ wear not thy hat too high, nor too close on 
thy eye, not in the fashion of swaggerers and jesters." 

The old portraits in the family mansions represent the 
breeches like long sausage hose, pinned up like pudding-bags ; 
a Dutch fashion. There was also another Dutch fashion, called 
the Vandyke costume, but they hung loose below the knee, and 
were either fringed or adorned with a row of points, which 
were ruffed with lace or lawn. 

The other part was a sort of doublet of silk or satin, with 
slashed sleeves ; a falling collar of pointed lace ; a short cloak, 
worn carelessly over one shoulder ; on the broad-brimmed 
Flemish beaver one or more ostrich feathers falling gracefully 
from it ; a very broad and richly embroidered sword-belt, in 
which was hung a Spanish rapier. (See annexed engraving.) 

The silk doublet was occasionally exchanged for a buff 
coat, reaching half-way down the thigh, (pockets in the skirts 
to catch the winter's snow or summer's dust,) with or without 
sleeves. 

A beau of this period was an animated trinket ; from the top 
of his beaver, that fluttered with gay streamers, to his boot 
point nothing was to be seen but an assemblage of bright 
colours and a blaze of jewellery ; he seemed fit only " to dance 
in his ringlets to the whistling wind." As he languishingly 
waved his handkerchief to and fro, he scented the air with his 
musk ; his gloves, which were too fine for use, were made of 
perfumed leather ; his pockets were stored with orangeade ; 
and when he addressed a lady, it v/as not only with honeyed 
words, but with sweet and substantial comfits. 

Not even contented with all this, the fops at last proceed- 
ed to paint their faces, and thus their resemblance to woman 



GENTLEMEN'S DRESS. 



199 



became complete. A rougher species of coxcombry was ex- 
hibited by those few who might be called the military dandies 
of the day : besides affecting a soldierly swagger and style of 
language, they wore black patches upon their faces, clipped 
into the forms of st-ars, half moons, and lozenges. This fashion 
originated in those who returned from the wars in the low 
countries, and began with the men before it was adopted by 
the women. 

Under the date of 1659 Pepys gives an account of the dress of 
a gentleman : " A short-waisted doublet and petticoat breeches ; 
the lining, being lowest, is tied above the knee ; they are orna- 
mented with ribands up to the pockets, and half their breadth 
upon the thigh. The waistband is set about with ribands, and 
the shirt hanging out over them.* Beneath the knee hung 
long, drooping, lace ruffles. The hat high crowned, and orna- 
mented with a plume of feathers ; and a rich falling collar of 
lace, with a cloak hung carelessly over the shoulder. The hair 




Costume of the Nobility and Gentry time of Charles II. 

very long, and flowing in ringlets over the shoulders. In 1664 the 
crown of the hat was lowered, and the plume laid upon the brim. " 
In 1666 the king (Charles II.) had a new dress, which he 
resolved never to alter. A king's resolve, and such a king ! 

* Gentlemen's shirts, elegantly worked with silk and needle-work, cost 
£10 each. 



200 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

" 'Tis this, 'tis that, 'tis t'other thing, 
'Tis anything or nothing." 

It consisted of a long, close vest, of black cloth or velvet, 
pinked with white satin ; a loose surcoat or tunic over it, of 
an oriental character ; and, instead of shoes and stockings, bus- 
kins or brodekins. 

Evelyn tells us there were bets among the courtiers about 
his keeping his dress resolution, which, as was expected, lasted 
but about two years. 

On the 18th of October this inquisitive diarist says : <^ The 
court is full of vests, only one lord not pinked, but plain black ; 
and they saj^ the king says, the pinking on white makes them 
look too much like magpies, so he hath bespoken one of plain 
velvet." 

He also had a collar and ruffles, made from the inner bark 
of the Largetta Thymalaca ; it is a native of Jamaica : they 
must have been very costly. 

A Russian ambassador's dress became all the fashion. The 
vest was a side deep ; loose coat, almost to the feet, with short 
sleeves. The tunic a close-bodied coat, the skirts being down 
to the knees, with a sash, (the girdle by which the tunic was 
tied to the body,) so called because it hath a round button and 
tassel. 

The vest originated the long square-cut coat which succeeded 
it ; and the tunic the waistcoat, which was nearly as long, and 
almost concealed the breeches. 

The sleeves of the coat came no farther than the elbows, 
where they were turned back and formed a huge cuff, those 
of the shirt bulging from beneath, ruffled at the wrists and 
adorned profusely with ribands. 

Both the coat and waistcoat had buttons and button-holes 
down the front. The stiff band and falling collar was super- 
seded by a neckcloth of rich Brussels or Flanders lace, tied 
with ribands under the chin, the ends hanging down square. 
The broad hat, which had been turned up or cocked behind, 
was sometimes entirelj" surrounded with costly feathers, which 
fell curling and dangling over the glossy brim.* 

The importance of dress being of such paramount influence 
to the gallants of the day, the mercers found their account in 
continually devising new fashions to attract the vain moths 
who were constantly flickering about their establishments ; 
and the way in which they recommended their wares was frank, 
dignified, and honest enough. The master or his apprentice 
(if his figure was more worthy of being made a fancy clothes' 

* Pepys, 1667. 



gentlemen's dress. 201 

block) had a waistcoat made of the newest and richest silk that 
had just come from the loom ; he then took his station at his 
rihop-door, dressed in a black coat, with the breast thrown 
quite back, so as to exhibit the new pattern ; he also had a pair 
of white siik stockings, and alight-coloured, well-powdered bob- 
wig. He thus strutted (or rather fretted) his hour, or till he 
got a bite, exhibiting and recommending his waistcoat, its elegant 
colours and texture, to the passers-by : the beaux were thus 
decoyed, like giddy moths are attracted by the glare of a fresh- 
snuffed candle. In this way a 'prentice of Paternoster Row 
often set the dress to the west end of the town.* 

Red silk stocking with different-coloured clocks about the 
ancle., gartered on the outside below the knee, the garterings 
of silk, representmg Scotch plaid, or else of the most expensive 
articles, were worn ; even men of mean rank wore shoe-roses and 
garters worth ^S.f Small shoe-buckles were worn bj^Charles II. 
when he assumed his fanciful dress in 1666 ; but by 1680 they 
had become very large, and of the richest metals, often inlaid 
with diamonds, and were universally worn about the reign of 
Queen Anne. 

Shoes and boots with cork soles two inches high, and often 
higher, of various colours, cut, carved, and stitched, covered 
with velvet embroidered with gold, were introduced. The 
boot often made of cloth, with tops as wide as a wallet, fringed 
boot-hose hanging over almost down to the ancle. 

The Cromwellites could not bear silks or satins ; they wore 
clothes of coarser stuffs, of black and sober colours, and many 
adhered to the old 

" High-crowned hat with a widish brim, 
Tied all round with a wrinkled string," 

in preference to the low-crowned Flemish beaver. " The 
Puritans occupied the trades of tire-women, (men milliners,) 
clear starchers, and feather-makers ; giving a rare instance of 
self-denial in those things, though they lived by administering 
them to others."! 

The dress of the upper classes, both male and female, during 
the reign of William III., (called the deliverer,) differed but 
little from that which had become fashionable toward the close 
of Charles TI. : straight-cut coats and waistcoats of equal lengths, 
reaching to the knee ; breeches fastened beneath the knee,*but 
hidden by the silk stockings, which were drawn over them ; 
long neckcloths of Flanders or Spanish pointed lace ; the upper 
leather of the shoes rose considerably abcve the instep, and 

* Character of the Beaux, 1696. t Continuator of Stowe. t Ben Jonson. 



202 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

fastened by a small strap passing over it, and through a buckle ; 
the hat bent up or cocked* all round, and trimmed with feathers ; 
fringed gloves and monstrous periwigs, (which latter it was the 
fashion to comb publicly,) formed the habits of the beaux. 

In 1676 calico was made in London, and, w^hen glazed, was 
used instead of shalloon, to line men's coats. 

The Bishop of Durham appeared on horseback, at a military 
review in the king's train, in a lay habit of purple, large jack- 
boots, cocked hat, and black wig tied behind like a military 
officer. In George Fox's Journal I find that, when he was at 
Reading in 1655, he says : " George, Bishop of Bristol, came 
to him with a sword by his side, for he was a military captain." 

In Queen Anne's reign the hat was smaller, but more regu- 
larly cocked on three sides. The wits called them Egham, 
Staines, and Windsor hats, (these three towns being equi-dis- 
tant from each other.) The coat-cufis very large, l3ut nearer the 
wrists. In 1706 came forth the Ramilies hat and wig, with a 
plaited tail to it, powdered ; some worth £40 : dancing-shoes, 
red topped, for slow minuets, not less than four inches high ; 
pearl-coloured silk stockings, fringed gloves, coats faced with 
black silk to all colours ; the large broad-sword belt discontinued, 
but the sword-handle was to peep just from under the coat ; 
blue camlet waistcoats, enormous pockets, embroidered with 
silver lace. Young dandies discontinued swords, but substituted 
large oak walking-sticks, with enormous grotesque heads, almost 
as large and as thick as their own, and nearly as long as a 
pilgrim's staff. 

POETIC DESCRIPTION OF A BEAU. 

" Take one of the brights from St. James's or White's,! 
'Twill best be if nigh six feet he prove high ; 
Then take of fine linen 'nough to wrap him in, 
Right mechlint must twist round his bosom and wrist, 
Red heels to his shoes, gold clocks to his hose, 
With calves quantum suff for a muff; 
In black velvet breeches let him put all his riches, 
The« cover his waist with a suit that's well laced ; 
Tis best if he wears not more than ten hairs 
(To keep his brains cool) on each side of his skull { 
Let a queue be prepared twice as long as a yard — 
Short measure I mean — there is great odds between ; 
This done, your beau place before a large glass, 
The recipe to fulfil, mix with powder pulvil,^ 
And then let it moulder away on his shoulder : 
Let a sword then be tied up to his left side, 

*■ In Professor Silliman's Journal, vol. xvii., it is mentioned that the cocked 
hat formed part of the dress of the ancient idols of Peru. 

t Two club-houfies. t Lace. <5 Scented powder. 



HAIR, WIGS, Ai^i) .I2ARDS. 203 

And under his arm place his hat as a charm ; 
Then let him learn dancing, and to ride horses prancing, 
Italian and French, to drink and to w — h ; 
Oh ! then with what wonder will he fill the beak-monde here." 

Mist's Journal, 1773. 

The dress of the commonalty may be inferred from the fol- 
lowing description, given in a scarce track, of the disguise of 
King Charles after the battle of Worcester, 1651 : 

" He had on a white steeple-crowned hat, without any other 
lining besides grease, both sides of the brim so doubled up 
with handling that they looked like two water-spouts ; a leather 
doublet, full of holes and almost black with grease about the 
sleeves, collar, and waist ; an old green woodrift" coat, (wood- 
reeve or woodman,) thread-bare and patched in most places, 
with a pair of breeches in the same condition, the slops hanging 
down to the middle of the leg ; hose and shoes of different 
parishes ; the hose were gray stirrups, much darned, and clout- 
ed, especially about the knees, under which he had a pair of 
flannel stockings of his own, the tops of them cut off; his shoes 
had been cobbled, being pieced both on the soles and seams, 
and the upper leather so cut and slashed, to fit them to his feet, 
that they were quite unfit to befriend him either from the water 
or dirt. This exotic and deformed dress, added to his short 
hair, cut off by the ears, his face coloured brown with walnut 
tree leaves, and a rough crooked thorn stick, had so metamor- 
phosed him that it was hard, even for those who had before 
been acquainted with his person and conversant with him, to 
have discovered who he was." — Sir Walter Scott. 



HAIR, WIGS, AND BEARDS. 

" Those curious locks, so aptly twined. 
Whose every hair a soul doth bind, 
Will change their auburn hue and grow 
White and cold as winter's snow." Carew. 

This writer does not seem to be aware that the whiteness of 
the hair does not altogether depend upon age, for Petrarch's 
(not to mention many others) hair changed white before he 
arrived at his twenty-fifth year. 

The hair seems always to have been an object of embellish- 
ment, both with males and females, from the earliest period. It 
is often alluded to in the Scriptures. Job shaved his head 



204 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OP GREAT BRITAIN. 

and rent his mantle when he heard of the destruction of his 
house.* 

All the nations of Gothic origin encouraged the growth of 
their hair and beards. About Anno. 1100 the fashionable men 
wore their hair very long, and also false curls ; they were called 
effeminates. A reform was effected during the reign of Henry 
I., by his hearing a sermon preached against it by Serlo, Arch- 
bishop of Seez. The clergy in general preached against it, 
taking for their text the 14th ver. 11th chap, of 1st Book of 
Corinthians. " During the height of chivalry one of the 
ceremonies in dubbing a knight was, cutting a lock of hair. 
Parting with hair was always regarded in the church as a 
symbol of servitude to God."f 

" In St. James's church, Garlick Hithe, London, Richard 
Lions, a wine merchant and lapidary, who was beheaded in 
Cheapside by Wat Tyler's rebels in 1381, (reign of Richard IT.,) 
lies buried there. He is represented with his hair rounded at 
the ears, and curled, and a little forked beard. "J 

Shaving in some countries was a mark of mourning, as with 
the Romans ; but in some countries it was the contrary. 

As a matter of taste, much may be said upon this subject : 
the expressive eye is undoubtedly made more expressive by a 
full beard ; but the mouth, the most expressive feature, loses by 
one in young persons, while in the old, when lankness begins to 
take place, it keeps up the fulness of that part of the countenance. 

The glossy appearance of the hair is a strong indication of 
health : wholesome nourishing food tends to make the hair and 
beard soft, while a poor miserable diet has the contrary effect. 

White (on the Regular Gradations) mentions an Italian female 
whose hair trailed on the ground when she stood upwright. 
The same observation maybe made on the Greek women. A 
Prussian soldier had it long enough to reach the ground ; and 
on an English lady it was six feet long.§ 

The custom of shaving came into use time of Louis XIII. of 
France, who ascended the throne clean shaved. Seume, a 
German author, writes in his journal : " To-day I threw my pow- 
der apparatus out of the window ; when will come the blessed 
day that I shall send the shaving apparatus after it .?" 

In the early part of the seventeenth century Brende writes • 
" They weare long nayles, which they never cut, and long 
hair, that was never clipped." 

George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends, when on his 

* The hair of a mummy has been found in fine preservation and braided 
in the fashion of the present day, although no doubt 3000 years old."— 
Entomological Society. 

♦ Mills. t Godwin's Churches. ^ Dr. Good. 



HAIR, WIGS, AND BEARDS. 



205 



apostolic tour in 1655, was taken to task about his long hair. 
He observed : " I take no pride in it, and I did not put it on." 

It is only important and worth noticing in a separate chapter 
as being one of the marks by which much persecution and 
misery was effected. 

We in these days may say what we will about the overbear- 
ing and persecutions of the Catholics ; we may 

" Distort the truth, accumulate the h"e, 
And pile the pyramid of calumny !" 

" More stress in those days was laid upon wearing the hair 
or the beard, and the innocent amusements of the day, with 
other insignificant customs, than upon the most outrageous 
offences against humanity and the rights of their fellow-crea- 
tures." The head-dress and its adornments were conspicuous- 
ly expressive of the party. 

In 1572 the ladies had periwigs of all colours. They knew 
the effect- a good head of hair has upon the other sex ; they knew 

'* Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare, 
And beauty draws us with a lock of hair." Howell. 



(( 



" The wealthy curled darlings of the Isle" wore their hair 
in long curled ringlets dangling upon their brawny shoulders ; 
and, as a compliment to Queen Elizabeth, whose hair was red^ 
this was with them the fashionable tint ; if not naturally of that 
colour, it was dyed till it was so. It continued that colour 
through the early part of the reigns of the Stuarts, the Scotch 
having their hair mostly of that colour.* 

The republican party, to make a distinction, cared nothing 
about the colour ; but they had their hair cropped, and thus 
acquired the name of Roundheads. 

Th-e mustache and peaked or dagger beards were common 
to both as military appendages.j The beards of judges and 
justices were called the formal cut. The rough and bushy was 
the shape of the clowns. 

" Their tawny beards, uncomb'd and sweeping long, 
All down their knees in shaggy ringlets hung." Mickle. 

In 1628 the Puritan Prynne wrote against love-locks and 

* Flaxen hair was much admired by the ancients, for this colour Homer 
commends Helena and Virgil Dido. 

The fashionable tint of the present day being black, that may be produced 
by using a paste composed of three ounces of litharge and one ounce of quick 
lime mixed with a little water, and applied to it all night ; the lime should 
be pieviously slacked in the open air, to lessen its causticirty. 

t See engraving, p. 138 



206 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

long womanish hair ; and their pulpits resounded with their 
anathemas. 

The ladies added jewels and roses, tied to their hair with 
ribands. 

In 1664 the periwig or peruke was reintroduced from the 
court of Louis XIV., no natural head of hair being considered 
sufficiently luxuriant. 

" It is a rule with courtiers of all countries to ape their king 
or ruler ; thus full-bottomed wigs were introduced, to conceal 
the Duke of Burgandy's hump back."* 

"To poise this equally, he bore 
A paunch of the same bulk before, 
Which still he had a special care 
To keep well crammed with thrifty fare." Hudibras. 

It might be an amusing piece of history (if m)rth the while) 
to chronicle these conceits. As a few occur to my memory 
which I have met with in my readings, I will introduce them. 
Alexander the Great was wry-neched ; this turned the heads 
of all his courtiers. One of the Dukes of Saxony was pot- 
bellied; all his courtiers, to keep him in countenance, strutted 
about with well-stuffed clothes, like so many Falstaffs. 

Queen Isabella, fair and frail, displayed her neck and shoul- 
ders, which, I am sorry to say, was too soon adopted by the rest 
of her sex. O, tempora ! O, mores ! " But I must histoBifi?, 
and not divine." 

After this digression, it will be right to notice that the tying 
of the hair is attributed to the " all-accomplished Bolingbroke." 

About this time came forth, among all this cranium decora- 
tion, hair powder^ which was at once one of the filthiest and 
one of the most troublesome fashions ever introduced, because 
every man was really for hours in the morning tributary to the 
dilatoriness or negligence of his hair-dresser coming to dress 
him. If this was to revive again, which it may do, half the 
men of business will be ruined, unless the hair-dressers, like 
the couriers of old,^ are put under martial law. 

I have read that the origin of powdering the hair commenced 
with the German gipsy girls, to give them a grotesque appear- 
ance when dancing. Its discontinuance in England was occa- 
sioned by William Pitt, who imposed a tax of one guinea per 
year (about $5) upon those who used it, at the commencement 
of the French republican wars, which was the only good act 
that war-loving minister ever caused to be passed. 

About 1700 there came in fashion the campaign wig, from 

* Ensor, 



HAIR, WIGSj AND BEARDS- 207 

France. They were made very full, curled eighteen inches in 
length to the front, with deep locks. There were also riding- 
wigs, bag-wigs, and night-cap wigs. Some of these were very 
high priced : one cost ^50 ; it was all white, naturally to save 
powdering. They were called " si/uerj^eecc5." Hair was very 
scarce, and much was imported ; but, in consequence of this 
scarcity, much horse-hair was used. 

'• Perukes now stuck so firm and steadfast, 
As the' they were riveted to head fast." Cottox. 

The following is a copy of a London barber and peruke- 
maker's sign : 

" Witness my shop, where now the splendid showe 
Of princes, heroes, ladies — all a rowe 
Of waxe and plaistere, rosy rede. 
Proves how a wig maye grace an emptie heade." 

The French, who excel in every specie of refinement, had, 
before the revolution, three hundred different methods of dress- 
ing, curling, powdering, and ornamenting the hair. No wonder, 
therefore, if these embellishments excited the fancy of the poets. 
Two jeu-d''esprits I will introduce, not being aware of their 
having been printed. 

SONNET TO AN OLD WIG. 

" Hail thou who lies so snug in this old box ! 
With sacred awe I bend before thy shrine ; 
Oh ! 'tis not closed, nor nail'd, nor lock'd, 
And hence the bliss of viewing thee is mine. 

Like my poor aunt, thou hast seen better days ; 
Well curl'd and powder'd, it was wont thy lot 
Balls to frequent, and masquerades, and plays, 
And panoramas, and the Lord knows what. 

Oft hast thou heard e'en Madame Mara sing, 
And ofi'times visited my lord mayor's treat ; 
And once at court was noticed by the king, 
Thy form was so commodious and so neat. 

Alas, what art thou now ! a mere old mop, 

With which our house-maid, Nan, who hates a broom, 

Dusts all my closets in my liule shop, 

Then slyly hides thee in this lumber-room. 

Such is the fate of wigs and mortals too ; 
After a few more years than thine are past — 
The Turk, the Christian, Pagan, and the Jew 
Must all be shut up in a box at last. 



208 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

Vain man ! to talk so loud and look sb big ! 
How small's the difference 'twixt thee and a wig 
How small indeed ! for speak the truth I must, 
Wisd turn to dusters and man turns to dust."* 

Some years pust the writer had an opportunity to peruse a 
diary of an ancient family, once of some power and consequence ; 
and could he, without breach of confidence, disclose, it would 
tend greatly to enrich these pages. But the following jeu' 
d'esprit on a locket, and the Scriptural account of his wife's 
party, are too good to remain any longer in obscurity. 

Being asked why he wore a locket with a lock of hair in it, 
he replied : 

*' This lock of gentle Delia's hair 
I do not without reason wear ; 
Within the breast on which it's shown 
That pretty empress keeps a throne — 
So ensigns on a fort declare 
The power which holds possession there." 1684. 

This lady was possessed with considerable talent. She used 
<ivery year to have what she called her party ^ which consisted 
Ji all the oddities of her acquaintance, whether relatives or 
xiciends, rich or poor, and whether they were friendly to each 
other or not. She used to watch the conduct of each to the 
other ; and in many instances, through this amiable display of 
her hospitality, has she been the means of bringing about re- 
conciliations : for " Adversity finds ease in complaining, and 
it is a solace to relate it." — Isidore. 

After one of these meetings a neighbour of his asked him 
to give a description of it. His reply was : *' I think that 
would be hardly proper ; but," said he, " this much I can inform 
you ; except in the number, you will find a very full description 
in the second verse of the twenty-second chapter of the 1st 
Book of Samuel : * And every one that was in distress, and 
every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, 
gathered themselves together, and there were with her about 
four hundred, and I became a captain over them.' " 

IMPROMPTU 

To a lady inquiring why beards were not worn, as informer times. 

•' To brush the cheeks of ladies fair, 
With genuine charms o'er spread, 
Their sapient beards with mickle care 
Our wise forefathers fed. 

* I regret that I am not able to chronicle the author of this moral jeu- 
cf esprit. It was written about 1784, that being the year Madame Mara first 
sung in England. 



FURNITURE. 309 

But since our modern ladies take 

Such pains to paint their faces, 
What havoc would such brushes make 

Among the loves and graces 1" 

As the gentlemen have again taken to wearing beards, per- 
naps the author may be permitted to advise the ladies to be 
cautious when a gentleman " holds out his foolish beard for 
thee to pluck." How fully do these changes illustrate the 
following Latin couplet : 

" Men change with fortunes, manners change with climes, 
Tenets with books, and principles with times." 



FURNITURE. 

" The palaces ferected in the reign of Elizabeth by the memorable Coun- 
tess of Shrewsbury and Elizabeth of Hardwicke, were exactly in this style s 
The apartments were lofty and numerous, and they knew not how to furnish 
them," &c. — Walpole. 

The wood-cuts will give some idea of the furniture of this 
magnificent age ; for, as regards furniture, it has not been ex- 
celled. Our ancestors seem to have studied the first chapter of 
Esther, and to have followed the sixth verse pretty accurately : 
" And there were hung up on every side sky-coloured and green 
and violet hangings, fastened with cords of silk and of purple, 
which were put into rings of ivory, and held up with marble 
pillars. The beds also were of gold and silver, placed in order 
upon a floor paved with porphyry and white marble, (Mosaic 
work,) which was embellished with painting of wonderful 
variety." Of many of these old buildings we may say : 

" Time, which brings the mighty low, 
And level lays the lofty brow, 
Has seen this broken pile complete, 
Big with the vanity of state." 

In which we may still observe ; 

" And all the hinder parts, that few could spy, 
Were ruinous and old, but painted cunningly." Spensbb. 

Bringing to mind the reflection of the old poet Webster : 



I do love these ancient mines. 

We never tread upon them but we set our foot 
Upon some reverende historic !" 

18* 



210 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

I will begin this chapter by copying part of the inventory 
of Kilburn Priory, 1536, "when," as tiie author of "Europe 
during the Middle A.ges " says, " the hungry parasites of the 
crown joined with the arch-robber, Henry VIII. , to destroy it, 
(the priory,) to fill their coffers at the expense of everything 
sacred. '^ " liem — two bedsteddes of hordes, Sd. ; in the middle 
chamber one fether bed, os. : two mattresses, 20d. ; two old 
coverlets, 20 fi; three woollen blankets, 8f/.; three bolsters, ISd.; 
two pieces of old hangings painted, (printed,) lOd. In prioress 
chamber, four pieces of say, (serge made entirely of wool,) 
redde and greene, with a border of story language, 3s. Ad. ; a 
standinge bedde and redde buckrame, and three curtaynes of 
same worke, 2s. ; eight pillowes of downe covered with fustyan, 
12d. ; an old cupboard, with two ambroys in it, lOd. ; two 
annde yrons, a foyer-forcke, a foyer-panne, and paire tonges, 
20d. ; noine paire sheetes, flaxen and canvasse, 13s. Ad. ; two 
diapere table-clothes, lis. 8fZ. ; a playne clothe for the horde in 
the hall, 12d. Such were the prices and the furniture of a 
prioress about 300 years past, from w^iich it appears the lodging 
was much the same as at the present time.* 

In large houses every bed-chamber had two beds — a standing 
bed, and a truckle-bed for the page or dressing-maid. The 
standing-bed had often, according to Stowe, a counterpane so 
richly and beautifully embroidered as to be worth 1000 marks ; 
and the bed-room pictures of most value, commonly protected 
with curtains, which could be readily folded or drawn back. 

Burton, in his " Anatomy of Melancholy," writes ; " Bessar- 
dus Bisantinus prefers the smoke of juniper to a melancholy 
person, which is in great request with us at Oxford to sweeten 
our chambers. "f 

Cardinal Wolsey had two hundred and eighty silk beds for 
nightly use at Hampton Court. 

The following is a description of the chamber at Hardwicke 
Hall while occupied by the unfortunate Mary, Queen of 
Scots : " Nothing can exceed the expense in the bed of state, 

* At a meeting of the Royal Academical Society, held at Metz, (1834-5,) 
M. Fournel stated that " the Lepidium ruderale (Dittany) was the most 
attractive of all subjects or substances to the bed-bug. Slips of it hung up 
about beds and other places where they infested, would collect whole 
colonies, which may be thus readily destroyed." 

The writer once had a cot bedstead much infested with these vermin, 
but, after soaking it a week in the tide water of the ocean, they were all 
destroyed, and none ever troubled him after. 

t " Of colours," ho states, " it is good to behold green, red, yellow, and 
white ; and by all means to have light enough with windows in the day, wax- 
candles in the night, neat chambers, good fires in winter, and merry com- 
panions ; for, though melancholy persons love to be dark, yet darkness is a 
great increaser of the humour." 



FURNITURE. 



211 



the hangings, and the coverings for the tables. The first is 
of cloth of gold, cloth of silver, velvet of different colours, 
laces, fringes, and embroidery. The hangings consist of figures 
as large as life, representing allegorically the virtues and the 
vices, embroidered with silk on black and white velvet The 
cloths cast over the tables are embroidered and embossed with 
gold on velvets and damasks. 




" The only moveables of any taste are the cabinets, chairs 
and tables of carved oak. The chimney is wide enough for a 
kitchen ; and over the arras are friezes of many feet deep, with 
miserable relievos of hunting in stucco." 

Still the coup-iPml must have been fine when the " dancing 
sun-beams played " on the bed on a beautiful summer day, 
through the noble oriel and other stained glass windows. 

The following is copied from the wardrobe account of King 



212 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

James I., 1613, on the marriage of his mly daughter to the 
Elector Palatine : " Item — to our embroiderer, for one whole 
suit of hangings upon crimson velvet, richly garnished and em- 
broidered all over with cloth of gold and cloth of silver ; laces 
of gold, partly with plates, and chain lace of gold without 
plates ; Venice twist, and gold and silver, and coloured Naples 
silk ; for embroidering the several parts of a sparver bed, of 
crimson velvet as the head part, cealer, double valence, and 
curtains of velvet and satin ; a very large cupboard-cloth of 
crimson velvet, carpet and screen-cloth, chairs, stools, and 
cushions, all very richly garnished all over with gold cloth, 
cloth of silver, and coloured satin. Item — to our upholsterer, 
for making a suit of hangings of crimson velvet, containing five 
pieces ; and two window pieces, embroidered^ lined with dyed 
canvass ; for making one cupboard-cloth, one carpet, and one 
screen-cloth, of like crimson velvet, embroidered, all lined with 
taffeta, and garnished with fringes of gold and silk ; for ma- 
king two large window-curtains of crimson damask, lined with 
fustian, copper rings, Iyer of thread, &c. ; for one bed, one 
bolster, and two pillows, of Milan fustian, filled with down, 
sewed with silk ; three quilts of fustian, cased with taffeta, 
filled with wool, and sewed with silk ; two pair of blankets of 
Milan fustian of five breadths and five yards long, the piece 
sewed with silk ; two pair of fine Spanish blankets ; two 
counterpanes of plush, both sides alike, sewed with silk. 
Item — to our joiner, for one frame for a canopy ; for a cushion- 
cloth, with iron-work to it ; for the timber-work of one chair, 
two low stools, and two little tables ; for one folding table of 
walnut tree. 

Such was a princessh bed-chamber establishment ; but the 
beds were in general very splendid. In almost every noble 
dwelling there is a state-be'd, with heraldric devices exquisite- 
ly embroidered at the head, and often an elegantly carved foot- 
board, silk hangings of taffeta, velvet, or satin ; the cornices 
beautifully carved, painted, and gilted, and the four posts 
standing above, crested with plumes of ostrich or other valu- 
able feathers. The state-bed at the Mansion House, London, 
(the lord mayor's house,) cost, when new, i£3,150. Shak- 
speare alludes to a bed in " Twelfth Night," act 3d, scene 2d. 
The readers of the kind-hearted Isaac Walton, the angler, must 
be familiar with his noticing lavender being used to perfume 
the sheets on the beds when he went ano-ling;. 

The woods in most repute before mahogany was introduced 
were walnut, oak, and chestnut, massive and elaborately carved. 

There is still in the possession of the descendants of T. Bur- 
kitt, Esq., of Sudbury, a very beautiful ebony cabinet, which 



FURNITURE. 



213 



formerlj^ belonged to Bridget, one of Oliver Cromwell's daugh- 
ters, with spiial columns and bars of great strength ; the interior 
is also of ebony : on the doors and drawers the panels are 
highly finished with oil paintings on copper, by " Old Ffranks " 




The backs of the chairs were high, and the middle part and 
the seats often filled up with cane, and then covered with cush- 
ions. Brilliant foreign mirrors, and these generally accompa- 
nied with candle-brackets. 

Turkey carpets were the first introduced ; they were then 
put upon tables, and the floors covered with rushes ; no doubt 
as the carpets b.-^came shabby or distasteful, they would be con- 
demned to the Uoct. 

Arras or tap^stiy (for they mean the same) was used on the 
walls, or served as screens before door- ways. After that came 



214 



THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



leather, which, when first introduced, was gilded in various 
ingenious patterns. After that France had the merit of supply- 
ing them with paper-hangings. 

Professor Beekman says the flock paper was first made by 
Jerome Langer, in London, in the reign of Charles I., who 
obtained a patent in 1634. In 1712 a duty of IfcZ. per yard 
was laid upon paper-h^angings. 

In the '■'' Mer curio Politicusj''^ 1660, is an advertisement sta- 
ting " that Richard Bailey, at the Sun and Rainbow, maketh 
oil-cloth the German way, and is very skilful in the art of oil- 
ing linen cloth, taffeta, woollen, &c., so as to make it impene- 
trable against wet or weather." Aubrey says : " There were 
painted texts of Scripture on these painted cloths when fixed 
to the walls of houses." 

A Mr. Shaw, who published a work on furniture, states that 
"the tables, cabinets, wardrobes, and clock-cases began to 
exhibit that beautifal workmanship called Marquetry\ from 
its inventor, M. Marquet, an ingenious Frenchman." 

The carved and gilded furniture which commenced in th^ 
reign of Queen Anne, never went quite out of fashion. 




SiTusra-ROOM Furniture timk of WilxJ»am IH. 



FURNITURE. 215 

In 1703 a work (and 1 believe the first) was published by 
Sieurde Marot, architect to William HI. It contains the most 
elegant designs for fanteuils, canopies, bed-tables, mirrors, gi- 
randoles, candelabras, mantel-pieces, &c. How elaborate the 
carving, how graceful the scrolls, and how chaste and appropri- 
ate are the decorations, any one would immediately recognise 
if they could see Penshurst, in Kent, Warwick Castle, or many 
of the houses of the olden time, which are models of imitation 
at the present day — proudly challenging all rivaby. 

At the beginning of the eighteenth century the mansions 
began to be furnished with every article of luxury they need 
possess, and made in so very superior a manner to any of the 
flimsy things of latter times, that such old furniture, if not much 
broken, is now eagerly sought after, and high prices paid for it. 

Japanned cabinets and folding-screens, to shut off a glaring 
light from the declining summer sun, or make all close and 
warm from currents of cold air on winter evenings, 

"Around the fire an evening group to draw, 
To tell of all ihey felt and all they saw," 

seem to have been at this period the last and only wanting 
luxury for the hall or drawing-room. 

Early in the eighteenth century a block of mahogany was 
sent to Dr. Gibbons, a London physician : this wood, from its 
not requiring any additional embellishment, soon got into gene- 
ral use. 

The sofas* were always large, and had a grand appearance 
in their large, well-proportioned rooms ; and, when occupied 
by the noble owners in their full dresses, and their dresses 
added fulness to the general appearance, it gave a grace to the 
whole, inspiring a pleasing awe on a first ^|igAiction. 

How delightful, after the toils of the d^^»' sit on one by 
the side of an old and valued friend, whose business visit is 
annually renewed ; and 

" Who every year can mend your cheer 
With tales both old and new." 

The writer will never forget being once introduced to a 
young female of great poetic talent, (who, a few months after, 
dropped into the grave, of consumption,) who had reclined on 
one of these useful, as well as ornamental, articles of furniture , 
but he could not speak to her then ; he was told 

* See tbft one represented o» p. 193. 



THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIIT. 



-She lies asleep, 



And from the parted lips the gentle breath 
Comes like fragrance from the lips of flowers ; 
Her delicate limbs are still, and o'er her breast 
The cross she pray'd to 'ere she fell asleep, 
Rises and falls with the soft tide of dreams, 
Like a light barge safe moor'd !" 

The amiable Cowper, we are told, was once asked, by a lady 
fond of blank verse, to write a poem of that kind, and give 
him the sofa for a subject. His gallantry could not refuse. 
I regret that it is too long for this work, or 1 would give it j but 
it is not too long for perusal. He states : 

" Thus first necessity invented stools. 
Convenience next suggested elbow-chairs, 
And luxury th' accomplished sofa last." Ta'sk. 



MASTER OF THE CEREMONIES. 

"Better be the head of the yeomanry than the tail of the gentry !" 

English Proverb, 

" Better be the head of a pike than the tail of a sturgeon !" 

Italian Proverb. 

" The first place of an inferior degree is worse than the last of a superior !'* 

Venitian Proverb. 

"At this time (1603) the King's Majestie, in regard of 
the great repayre into this Kingdome of Foraine Princes and 
their ambassadores, made an office of Master of the Ceremo- 
nies, and apfl^y^l^gjSir Lewis Lukenor, Knt., with a salary 

His badge of office was a gold chain, to which hung a medal 
that had on one side an emblem of peace placed under a 
crown of England, with King James's motto, " Beatti Pacifici;^^ 
and on the other an emblem of war, with " Dieu et mon 
Droit.'''' 

There is an amusing chapter under this title in D'Israeli's 
" Curiosities of Literature," by which it appears Sir Lewis 
was assisted in his office by Sir John Finett, who afterward 
succeeded him in the reign of Charles I., and who has left 
behind a diary entitled ^^ Finetti PJiiloxensiSj^^ touching the 
reception and precedence, the treatment and audience, the 

* Nichol's Progresses. 



MASTER OF THE CEREMONIES. 217 

punctilios and contests of foreign ambassadors in England, 
1656. This very curious diary was published by his friend, 
James Howell. 

By this work it appears that all foreign ambassadors were 
entirely entertained, for their diet, lodgings, and coaches, with 
all their train, at the cost of the English monarch ; and, on 
their departure, received customary presents of considerable 
value, from 1000 ounces to 1500 ounces of plate ; and in more 
cases than one the meanest complaints were made by the 
ambassadors about short allowances. The foreign ambassa- 
dors, in return, made presents to the master of the ceremo- 
nies of from thirty to fifty pieces, or in plate or jewels, and so 
grudgingly that Sir John Finett often vents his indignation, 
and commemorates the indignity ; as thus : On one of the 
Spanish ambassadors-extraordinary, waiting at Deal for three 
days, Sir John expecting the wind with the patience of a 
hungry entertainment from a close-handed ambassador, as his 
present to me at his parting from Dover being but an old gilt 
livery pot, that had lost its fellow, not worth above £12, ac- 
companied with two pair of Spanish gloves, to make it almost 
£13, to my shame and his. When he left this scurvy ambas- 
sador-extraordinary to his fate aboard the ship, he exults that 
the cross winds held him in the Downs almost a seven-night 
before they would blow him over. 

The perpetual jars of punctilios, and their singular intrigues 
to obtain precedence, so completely harassed the patience 
of the most pacific sovereign, that James was compelled to 
make great alterations in his domestic comforts, and was 
perpetually embroiled in the most ridiculous contests. At 
length Charles I. perceived the great charges of these embas- 
sies, ordinary and extraordinary, often on frivolous pretences, 
and, with an empty treasury and an uncomplying parliament, 
he grew less anxious for such ruinous honours. He gave no- 
tice to foreign ambassadors that he should not any more " de- 
fray their diet, nor provide coaches for them."* 

Charles II., who was no admirer of these regulated formali- 
ties of court etiquette, seems to have broken up the pomp and 
pride of the former master of the ceremonies ; and " the grave 
and the great chancellor of human nature," as Warburton calls 
Clarendon, censured and felt all the inconveniences of this 
open intercourse with the king- Thus, he observed in the 
case of the Spanish ambassador, who, he writes, *' took ad- 
vantage of the license of the court, where no rules or forma- 

* The foreign ambassadors generally resided at Crosby Hall, Bishopgate- 
street. In 1603 M, de Rosny, afterward the celebrated Due de Sully, resided 
there for a short time. 

19 



218 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

lities were yet established, (and to which the king himself was 
not enough inclined,) but all doors open to every person, 
which the ambassador finding, he made himself a domestic, 
came to the king at all hours, and spoke to him when and as 
long as he would, without any ceremony, or desiring an audi- 
ence according to the old custom ; but came into the bed-cham- 
ber while the king was dressing himself, and mingled in all his 
discourses with the same freedom he would use in his own. 
From this never-heard-of license, introduced by the French^ 
and the Spaniard at this time without any dislike in the king^ 
though not permitted in any court in Christendom^ many incon- 
veniences broke in, which never after could be shut out."* 

Some idea may be formed of the troubles arising from this 
circumstance. In the year 1661 there was a regular conflict 
in Cheapside, between the French and Spanish ambassadors 
about precedence, which was, no doubt, premeditated, and was 
so severely carried on, that the military was obliged to be 
called out. In anticipation of the affray, the Spaniard had 
cunningly lined the coach-harness with iron, so that it could 
not be cut ; he had also an armed guard on each horse, so 
he gained the victory : much blood-shed was the conse- 
quence, and the crowd huzzaed at the fallen victory ; but so 
would they have done if it had been the other party. 

When ambassadors thus belaboured each other, it was not 
to be expected that their persons were very sacred ; accordingly, 
in 1683, when the national feelings were raised against the 
United Provinces, the Dutch ambassador's carriage was at- 
tacked, a volley of stones was discharged, with squibs and fire- 
brands, by which his lady was dangerously wounded. 



RETINUE. 

" 'Tis a rare ihing to find an honest servant ; we are scarce." 

Paul Heutzner, (a German,) who visited England, says, in 
his " Itinerary," written 1598 : " The English are serious, like 
the Germans, lovers of show, liking to be followed wherever 
they go by whole troops of servants, who wear their masters' 
arms in silver. 

When Sir William Holies attended the coronation of Ed- 
ward VI., his retinue was fifty retainers, with blue coats and 
badges. 

* Clarendon's Life, 



RETINUE. 219 

The retinue or domestic attendance was still great, though 
greatly reduced from the feudal period. 

The father of the celebrated John Evelyn, when he was 
High Sheriif of Surrey and Sussex, had a hundred and sixteen 
servants in liveries of green satin doublets, besides several 
gentlemen and persons of quality who waited upon him, dress- 
ed in the same costume. 

Perhaps the largest establishment of these reigns was that 
of the lord treasurer, the Earl of Dorset ; it consisted of 
two hundred and twenty servants, besides numbers usually 
hired on particular occasions. These servants of the nobility 
were the younger sons of respectable families, who attached 
themselves to the fortunes of these powerful patrons, and served 
them at court, on embassies, or in military affairs ; and they 
were allowed seperate horses and retinues according to their 
condition, with gratuities in money and promotion, as their 
services deserved. But nearly all wore the liveries and other 
pompous costumes of their lords. There was a land and a 
house steward ; (these had a velvet jacket, and a golden chain 
about their neck ;) a carver ; then a clerk of the kitchen, and a 
variety of cooks, both male and female, foreign and domestic ; 
then there was the butler, and sometimes a chief butler ; 
game-keepers, park-keepers, pages, waiting-men, and last, 
though by no means the least, several gardeners, and each of 
these had their subordinates. If we now go to the stables, 
here we find another battalion of grooms, coachmen, footmen, 
huntsmen, whippers-in, stable-boys, and trainers. In the farm- 
yard establishment, here is a bailiff with all his supernumera- 
ries. I have not noticed the females, so that the number 
of two hundred and twenty will soon be found when the in- 
viting turret dinner-bell calls them to the " half-uncurtained 
^rvant's hall," where the pious family chaplain dines with 
ihem, observes due order, and says the grace. This gentleman 
was a very important functionary in these large establishments. 
In 1592 Haryngton, who was high sheriff for the County of 
Somerset, put forth " twenty-one rules for the better ordering 
of household servants." " Imprimis, That no servant be ab- 
sent froDi praire, at morning or even service, without lawful 
excuse ; to pay for every tyme two pence." The whole are of 
ih'j, best description, and the finis is, " all which sommes shall 
be paide eache quarter-daie out of theire wages, and be bestow- 
ed on the poore of the village or other God-like purposes." 
This gentleman, the clergyman or priest, was not the usual 
parish vicar or rector, but one or more, according to the rank 
<d the nobleman, at each house where there was a private cha- 
pel, and he was considered the domestic chaplain. 



220 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

" According to a statute of Henry VIII., the persons vested 
with power of retaining chaplains, together with the number 
each is allowed to qualify, are as follows : An archbif^hop, eight ; 
a duke or bishop, six ; marquis or earl, five ; a viscount, four ; 
a baron, knight of the garter, or lord chancellor, three ; a 
duchess, marchioness, countess, baroness, the treasurer or con- 
troller of the king's house, clerk of the closet, the king's 
secretary, dean of the chapel, almoner, and master of the rolls, 
each two ; the chief justice of the King's Bench, and warden 
of the cinque ports ^ each one."* 

" The extraordinary stupidity of the peasants in countries from 
which the ceremonies of faith have been withdrawn, or where 
they are deprived of religious worship and the exercises of 
prayers and meditations, arises from their not perceiving that 
it is religion acting through this medium which civilizes men. 
There can be no doctrine and precept of manners, unless by 
means of the public worship of religion. The positive pre- 
cepts of religion inspire politeness."! 

The following is the retinue of the fleet which went to Spain 
in 1632, to bring back the prince from his sweet-hearting : 

Prince Royal — Prince on board ; the Earl of Rut- ^ 

land, admiral; Sir H. Mainwaring, \ 12OO 65'* 
captain, } 

Saint Andrew, Lord Morley, vice admiral, - - 898 42 

Swiftsure, Lord Windsor, rear admiral, - - 700 42 

Saint George, Sir Francis Steward, - - - - — 

Defiance, Sir Sackville Trevor, - - - - 700 40 

Bonaventura, Sir William St. Leger, - - - - 674 40 

Rainbow, Sir Henry Palmer, ----- 650 34 

Antelope, Captain Love, -----. 450 34 

The Charles, Captain Harris, ------ 140 14 

Seven Stars, 140 14 

It will readily be conceived that, during the greater part of 
these reigns, while the manners of high life were so frivolo^is 
and depraved, and so indifferent to peaceful domestic happinesSj 
much the same would be the conduct of their domestics when 
in attendance in London. 

While the gentleman was fooling away his time, and sqijan- 
dering his money in the gaming-house, the liveried lackey who 
attended him played away his wages on the stairs of the dev^s 
where they met ; and, while a fashionable debauch was going on 
in the tavern, the valets were drinking and carousing in the 
kitchen or at the bar. When people went to the park, they 

♦ Bucke. t Mores Catholici. 



RETINUE. 221 

^ere oblio:ed to leave their attendants outside at the gates. 
}-lvv(^ comnierioed a pretty scene '; the harlequinaded tribe 
amused themselves with boxing and wrestling, or else they 
were detailing all the scandal and eccentricities of their 
respective establishments, and telling everything that was 
eaid or done at home, by which means the coquetry, and 
the privacy, and the peace of every family got dispersed 
abroad.* 

There were alifo a great deal of " high life below stairs," 
d'rhGnesty, waste, and prodigality among the servants, who, at 
their several meetings and junketings, not only assumed the 
titles of their masters, but used the choicest wines, viands, and 
deserts ; and often a smart lackey, when an opportunity offered, 
dressed himself in his lord-s apparel and sallied forth to the 
theatre, or ball-room, or masquerade ; 

"The dreadful masquerader, thus equip'd, 
Out sallies on adventures ;" Young. 

in which he often out-did the out-and-out doings of his master. 
These, and still worse excesses, are copiously alluded to by the 
essayists of the times ; and they originated from the greedy, but 
outrageously foolish, new custom of putting servants on board 
wages, in which, when all things were considered, there was 
no saving. 

The servants were forbidden, by an order of the lord cham- 
berlain in 1701, to wear swords ; and servants' vails"]" were 
discontinued in gentlemen's houses about 1760. 

While complaints were justly made of the arrogance and 
dishonesty, the laziness and luxury of valets, footmen, and 
other male attendants, the charges against female servants 
were equally loud and numerous ; and the character of the 
pert, mercenary, intriguing abigail is familiarized to us by 
many of the dramatists of the period. 

When the country damsel first came to town, which was by 
some country broad-wheeled wagon, drawn by eight horses, 
fresh in innocence and inexperienced, and entered into her new 
service determined to do her duty, a coterie of the town 
menials soon took her under their lawless charge, and taught 
her the most approved methods of obtaining the highest wages 
for the smallest amount of work, and the best way to pick up 
waifs, strays, vails, and perquisites. In this way she soon 
learned enough to assume the cast-ofF airs with the cast-off 
gowns of her mistress ; so that in a short time, among hei 

* Vanbrugh's Journey to London. t A present. 

19* 



222 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

other town accomplish ments, she could drink tea, take snuff, 
and carry herself as high as the rest.* — " A Trip ihromjh i}',e 
Town.'' 

Nor was it much better with the servants of the middle 
classes, " for evil communications corrupt good manners." 
" Women servants are now so scarce,*' sa3'^s an anonymous 
writer, " that, from 30 to 40s. a year, their wages are increased 
to six, seven, and eight pounds ; insomuch that an ordinary 
tradesman cannot well keep one, but his wife, who might be 
useful in his shop or business, must do the drudgery o^l house- 
hold affairs ; and all this because our servant wenches are so 
puffed up with pride now-a-days that they never think they 
go fine enough. It is a hard matter to know the mistress from 
the maid by their dress, nay, very often the maid shall be 
much the finer of the two."| 



MERCHANTS, SHOP-KEEPERS, AND 'PRENTICES 

" In gospel phrase, their chapmen they betray, 
Their shops are dens, the buyer is their prey." Dryden. 

During these reigns " the aristocracy looked down upon 
trafficking with disdain, and elbowed it from the wall ; and 
a fashionable comedy was not thought racy enough, unless 
some vulgar flat-cap was introduced, to be robbed of his daughter 
and his ducats by some needy and profligate adventurer. 

'' But, in spite of the ridicule of the court and theatre, the 
merchants and the shop-keepers went on and prospered. The 
town shops were still little better than booths or cellars, gene- 
rally without doors or windows. "J — Pepys' Diary. 

In lieu of gilded signs and tempting show-glasses, the master 
took short turns before his door, crying, " What d'ye lack, sir ,?" 
" What d'ye lack, madam ?" and then he rehearsed a list of 
the commodities he dealt in. When he became weary, this 
task was assumed by his apprentice, and thus a London 
street was a Babel of strange sounds, by which the wayfarer 

* In poor Richard's x\lraanac for 1758, the following old adage is quoted: 



-Many estates are spent in the getting-, 



Since women for tea forsook spinning and knitting, 
And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting." 

t Spectator, No. 364. 

t How nnuch this is like Torbole, in Italy, as described by Goethe, 1786 
Isaac Walton's (the angler) first shop at the Royal Exchange was only 
seven and a half feet long and five feet wide. 



MERCHANTS, SHOP-KEEPERS, AND APPRENTICES. 223 

was dinned at every step. The articles of a dealer were often 
of a very heterogeneous description : these w^ere huddled in bales 
within his little shop, and in the midst of them the wife and 
daughter of the master, plying the needle or knitting- wires, 
and eying the passing crowd.* 

In one of the plays of the time a merchant explains to his 
idle apprentice the way in which he grew rich : " Did I gain my 
wealth by ordinaries ? No. By exchanging of gold.'' No. By 
keeping of gallants' company .'' No. I hired me a little shop, 
bought low, took small gains, kept no debt book, garnished my 
shop, for want of plate, with good, wholesome, thrifty sentences, 
as, ^ Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee.' ' Light gains 
make heavy purses.' ^ 'Tis good to be merry and wise. "'I 
But, although the shops and warehouses of the London traf- 
fickers were so humble, their houses were of a very different 
description ; so that, even as early as the reign of James, the 
dwelling of a chief merchant rivalled the palace of a nobleman 
in the splendour of its furniture, among which cushions and 
window-pillows of velvet and damask had become common. 

At the hour of twelve the merchant usually repaired to the 
Exchange, and again at six in the evening. At nine the Bow- 
bell rang, which was a signal for the servants to leave off work 
and repair to supper and to bed. " A bell," says Fuller, 
" which the master thought too soon and the apprentice too 
late." It is amusing, however, to observe the jealous distinc- 
tions that still prevailed among the different classes. Only a 
great magnifico or royal merchant was worthy to prefix Master 
or Mr. to his name ; and if he was addressed as the ^' worship- 
fulj^^ it was only when a soothing compliment was necessary ' 
but the addition of gentleman or esquire would have thrown 
the whole court into an uproar. Even in such a trifling matter 
as the lights in a street on a dark night the same scrupulous 
distinctions were observed ; the courtiers were lighted with 
torches,^ merchants and lawyers with links, and mechanics 
with lanterns. The great mark of mercantile ambition was 
to be lord mayor ; the lord mayor show was more than a Ro- 
man triumph in the eyes of a young civic aspirant. 

In George Fox's Journal, under date 1653, he states : " The 
early Friends had more trade than other people, which made 
the rest more envious." 

The citizens of London, as tradesmen, were always very 
anxious to remain fixed in one place : there is now living a 
Thomas Slielton, a brazier, who occupies the site on which 
stood the Bo&r's Head Tavern, Great-East-Cheap ; he and his 

* Pepys' Diary. + Westward Ho. 

t The gentlemen pensioners on court days usually held torches. — Nichols, 



224 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

ancestors have lived there and carried on that trade ever since 
the great fire in 1666. 

This family has strenuously followed a good old maxim 
which may be found in Poor Richard's Almanac, 1758, viz. : 

" I never saw an oft removed tree, 
Nor yet an oft removed family, 
That throve so well as one that's settled be." 

There is an eastern proverb, " That people resemble more 
the times in which they live than they resemble their fathers." 
So, as trade and commerce had increased, and merchants and 
tradesmen had become more wealthy toward the close of the 
century, many of the most eminent city merchants and civic 
functionaries obtained and rejoiced in the honour of knighthood, 
but all who were of any respectability had the title of esquire 
or gentleman appended to their names ; many clerks assumed 
the same trifle. Thus Steele complained, that England had 
become ^^populus armigerorunij^^ a nation of esquires.* 

London merchants yet lived in the city, having their count- 
ing-houses or ware-houses fronting the street, their dwelling- 
houses at the back, splendidly furnished, and living luxuriously. 
At half-past one the merchants repaired to the Exchange, 
and remained till three ; but those of greater eminence pre- 
ferred transacting business at Garraway, Robins, or Jonathan's 
coffee-houses ; the first of these was frequented by the wealthi- 
est merchants and people of quality, who had city business ; 
the second, by foreign bankers, and sometimes foreign minis- 
ters and ambassadors, who often bought and sold in the stocks. 
There were two comfortable French eating-houses near the 
Exchange, Rivet's and Pontac's ;| but mere eating could not 
always satisfy those who bought and sold ; there were several 
persons belonging to 'change who sipped in the forenoon until 
they were neither sodden drunk nor facily sober, in which twi- 
light state they transacted their business : these acquired the 
name of " io^e/^crs."J 

Shop-keepers had now become so numerous that they were 
obliged to resort to puffing, which assumed shapes not conceived 
at the present day : sometimes a shop-keeper, scorning a direct 
puff advertisement of his articles, commenced with apparent 
anger thus : " Whereas it has been maliciously reported that 
A. B. is going to leave off business," and then would follow 
an earnest assurance that such was not the case, " that }ie con- 
tinued, as before, to sell the under-mentioned articles at lowest 
prices." A more ingenious plan was for H. Z to advertise 

* Tattler, No. 19. t Mackay. t Tattler, Kd, 139. 



MEKCHANTS, SHOP-KEEPERS, AND APPRENTICES. 225 

in tlr* public prints that a purse of gold, of large amount, with 
otht'T vahiable5;, had been, in the^reat hurry of business, drop- 
ped HI his fihop, and would be reiiu-ned to the proper owner on 
descfihing; iis r,«intenis. Of course every one was eager to 
deal with su^'h an honest tradesnr.inj aijd this visionary purse 
soon became to kirn a reality. 

But the chief ailraetion and beiit advertisement was a sign- 
board, announcing name and occupation with all the splendour 
of gilding and painting. Here is a sample of a jocose one : 

GEORGE WILSON, SIGN OF THE PHGENIX. 
Here soap and ink, stamps and sticking-plastek mix 
With song books, Ainslie's sauce, tea-tkays, and candlesticks. 

But many, to strike the eye more effectually, had emblazoned 
some animal or object sprawling upon the sign. When these 
signs or subjects were common, or when fancy became capri- 
cious, (for she is a fickle jade,) something more piquant was 
adopted, and, therefore, there now arose blue boars, black 
swans, red lions, flying pigs, and hogs in armour, swans with 
two necks, and such queer skimble-skamble stuff as would have 
put the Welch heraldry of Owen Glendower to the blush. 
Then there were multitudes of compound signs, such as the 
fox and seven stars, ball and neats-tongue, dog and gridiron, 
sheep and dolphin, pig and whistle. These grotesque combi- 
nations seem to have originated in the apprentice quartering 
his master's symbol with his own, like the combined arms 
of a matrimonial heraldric alliance. In not a few instances 
(they can be traced to the ignorance of the people, or the usual 
contraction or abbreviation of speech) these comical emblems 
became most ridiculously perverted. Thus, the Bologne- 
mouth, the mouth of the harbour of Bologne, in France^ 
became the bull and mouth ; at this day a noted travellers' inn 
)n St. Martin's-lane, the Satyr and Bacchanals, became the 
devil and bag of nails ; and the pious, praiseworthy, and puri- 
tanical legend, which they often used, " God encompasseth ws," 
became, after being many times mouthed over by various pro- 
vincialists, metamorphosed into the " goat and compasses." 

These signs, which projected into the street, where they 
swung from their elegant and elaborately curled iron-work 
supports, creaked to and fro most hideously from every blast ; 
bo that at night you might as well have a poor afflicted child 
in your bel-room as this noise, if you wanted to sleep. In the 
GenUeuian's Magazine is an account of the iron-work and other 
decorations of one which cost JE700. 

Besides the regular tradesmen, London appears to have 



2^6 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAfK-. 

abounded with hawkers, whose occupation (to catch ^^ fools 
pence'''^) and modes of dealing would now be indicted as a 
nuisance ; in t'aci, ihe.y iTiostiy tended to tlie grossest demoraliza- 
tion. Even Wesinivnster Hali swarmed with lejnale hawkers, 
like a modern bazaar ; ribands, gloves, and other tancy articles 
were selling on every side of the building, while lands and 
tenements were being wrangled for wi the other ; on one side 
a shrill-toned seamstress was detailing the beauties of her 
commodities, while a deep-mouthed crier was on the other 
side commanding silence.* 

There were many shops in which toys and trinkets were 
raffled for, and to these places gallants took their mistresses. 
These were imitated in humble life, so that ever}^ fruit-stall 
became a place for gambling, where the apple-munching young 
urchin became first initiated. 'Thimble-rigging was openly 
practised in the streets ; street-pedlars publicly hawked about 
gin and other strong liquors on wheelbarrows ; and the number 
of public houses were more in proportion than now. In the 
year 1725 there were, in the metropolis, exclusive of South- 
wark, 61S7 houses wherein Geneva and other strong waters 
were sold retail. 

From the merchant and shop-keeper, we may proceed to the 
apprentices ; and, strange to tell, they were at this period the 
chief civic nuisance. The laws were strong against them, but 
they had been much neglected. These youths, scattered over 
the whole metropolis, had become formidable, not only from 
their number, but also from their union ; and they seem to have 
acquired such a reckless ferocity from the consciousness of 
their strength, that they were always ready to head all other 
minor insurrections and popular riots. In these cases it was 
in vain for the small and feeble city guard to oppose them ; 
" cluhs^ bills, and partisans '' were swept before the whirlwind 
of a 'prentice onset. These 'prentices had also constituted 
themselves into the arbiters and executioners of popular justice ; 
so that if a bull was to be bated in the ring, or a play d — d on 
the stage — if a b — d was to be carted through the streets with a 
hideous symphony of pans, kettles, and keys — if a scold was to 
be carried to the ducking-stool and ducked, or a house of bad 
repute was to be stormed and sacked — a throng of apprentices 
generally both decreed and executed the deed. These turbu- 
lent lads had, as is usual, their feuds against certain other 
bodies, among which the templars (law clerks) were distin- 
guished ; but all foreigners they hated, and with even more tha,a 
an Englishman's hatred. 

When the hey-day of apprenticeship had expired, many of 
* Works of T. Brown. 



MERCHANTS, SHOP-KEEPERS, AND APPRENTICES. 227 

these youths ^rew sober, rich, and obese, and were thus 
qualified for civic offices and dignities ; but others acquired 
such unsefctled and profligate habits, that their dismissal was 
indispeusable. Being thus thrown loose upon society, they 
were ready for any desperate deed ; and, from the host of dis- 
carded 'prentices, a bravo could easily be hired by any gen- 
tleman who was mean enough to use the services of a 
mercenary cudgel.* 

In the reign of Queen Anne an act was passed, by which 
poor boys of a certain age, maintained by the parishes, were 
to be sent to sea. 

The last serious act of these turbulent youths took place in 
1668. 

The author of a poem, " The Honour of London Appren- 
tices," (1647,) states, in his preface, that, from all parts of 
England and Wales, " the sonns of knights, esquieres, gentle- 
men, ministers, yeomen, and tradesmen come up from their 
particular places of nativity, and are bound apprentices in Lon- 
don."! 

In London, in cases of misconduct by either apprentice or 
master, they are summoned before the city chamberlain, who 
adjudicates between them ; and, upon the disobedience or mis- 
conduct of either, he may commit the offender to bridewell. 

In 1766 an act was passed to oblige apprentices to serve 
out their time, and also to compel artificers and workmen to 
fulfil their contracts entered into with their employers, for the 
full period agreed upon. J 

The great advantage of this act 1 shall allude to again when 
speaking of the statutes and fairs in the rural districts. It pro- 
duced a surprising effect in London and other cities. It may 
be fairly called the '' drill-sergeant of society :" it forces obe- 
dience ; it timely suppresses all manifestations of irksomeness 
at that most important period of life, when the habits are form- 
ing; it restrains all peculiarities of ill-temper, and curbs down 
all wilfulness and licentiousness. It teaches an important 
lesson, that those who will not do their duty and be convinced 
by the reason and experience of those under whom they are 
placed, must be reformed by force. If Buonaparte had studied 
the English character, particularly this part of it, he need not 
have wondered at the astonishing perseverence of his greatest 
enemy. That sentiment is formed in the British youth from 

* Fleetwood's Letters — Green's Ghost Haunting. 

t This extract contradicts the remarks of several of the Diarists and 
writers of these reigns. I give it, lest I might be charged with partiality. 
I expect these instances were few. 

I Macpherson's Annuals of Commerce, 



228 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

the age of fourteen to twenty-one, tKe most important perio<'i 
of human life ; it is the parent of firmness, patience, and per- 
severence, and is the origin of good discipline. As the aports 
of the field (which I shall show) make bold, active, daring, 
fearless officers ; so the subordination created by this act alone 
makes the steady soldier or sailor. As in the one there is no 
luxurious effeminacy, he can be a daring, dashing, leader ; so 
the other follows on readily to the assault with cool, deter- 
mined, persevering bravery ; and, if repulsed, he is not discom- 
fitted, but will march on again and again, when orders are 
ffi^en so to do. 



CLERGYMEN, CLERKS, AND THE SEXTONESS. 

*' Some negligent pastorlings there are, who have more heede to their 
owne hides than to the soules of the people." — Bishop Hall. 

From the general state of society, it will not be expected 
that the clergy were in a much more refined state than their 
flocks. Those lights of the age only show " darkness visible, 
serving only to discover sights of wo." 

" England is the only country in Christendom where simony 
is openly practised and vindicated." How this should be, 
among men who solemnly swear on the altar that " they be- 
lieve themselves called to the care of souls by the Holy Ghost," 
is surprising, and is only to be witnessed to be believed ; but 
so it is. 

It is not my desire to make a display of the clerical errors 
of this period ; sufficient will it be to produce only those few- 
blights by which my readers may understand something of tho 
manners and customs of the age. 

" More herein to speak I am forbidden ; 
Sometimes for speaking truth one may be chidden." 

From " Drake's Shakespeare and his Times " I learn that 
" a clergyman was called sir, (which was not discontinued till 
the reign of Charles H.,) from the word dominusy a bachelor's 
degree." 

Harrison says the "apparell of our clergj'men is comlie and, 
in truth, more decent than over it was in the Catholic church 
before the universities bound their graduates to a sable attire. 
It was the custom of some patrons (after the reformation) to 
bestow advowsons and benefices upon their bakers, butlers, 



CLERGYMEN, CLERKS, AND THE SEXTONESS. 229 

cookeSj goodrakes, falconers, and horse-keepers, instead of 
other recompenses for their long and faithful services." 

The following curious entry, from the household book of 
iie Stationer's Company, 1560, will give an idea of their poor 
Day, compared with other dependants : 

s. 
Item. Paide the preacher, vi. 

" the minstrelle, xij. )► for one day. 
'* the coke, (cook,) xv. 

The following graphic, but miserable, account of the colle- 
gian is from Burton's " Anatomy of Melancholy," published 
1621 :* 

" Where shall he have it, (preferment }) he is as far to seek 
it as he was (after twenty years' standing) at the first day of 
his coming to the university. For what cause shall he take, 
being now capable and ready .'' The most parable and easie, 
and about which many are employed, is to teach a school, turn 
lecturer or curate ; and for that he shall have falconer's wages, 
(ten pound per annum and his diet, or some small stipend,) so 
long as he can please his patron or the parish. If they approve 
him not, (for usually they do but a year or two — as incon- 
stant as they that cried * Hosanna ' one day and * Crucifie 
him ' the other,) serving-man like, he must go and look for a 
new master : if they do approve him, what is his reward .? 

" Like an ass, he wears out his time for provender, and can 
show a stum-rod, an old gown, and an ensign of his infelicity ; 
he hath his labour for his pains ; a modicum to keep him till 
he be decrepit. If he be a trencher chaplain in a gentleman's 
house, (as it befell Euphormio,) after some seven years' ser- 
vice, he may, perchance, have a living to the halves, or some 
small rectory with the mother of the maids at length, a poor 
kinswoman, or a cracked chambermaid, to have and to hold 
during the time of his life. But if he offend his good patron, 
or displease his lady-mistress in the meantime, as Hercules did 
Cacus, he shall be dragged forth out of doors by the heels — 
away with him. 

" If he bend his forces to some other studies, with an intent 
to be a secretis to some nobleman, or in such a place with an 
ambassador, he shall find that these persons rise like 'pren- 
tices, one under another ; and so, in many tradesmen's shops, 
when the master is dead, the foreman of the shop commonly 
steps in his place." 

He then quotes from a sermon preached at Paul's Cross, 

* This reverend gentleman had the living of St. Thomas, in the city of 
Oxford, in 1616. At this vicarage he is remarked to have always given the 
«ftcrament in wafers. 

20 



230 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

1597. " We that are bred up in learning, and destinated by 
our parents to this end, we suffer our childhood in the gram- 
mar school, which Austin calls magnam tyrannidem et grave 
tnaluiriy and compares it to the torments of martyrdom : when 
we come to the university, if we live of the college allowance 
as Phalaris objected to the Leontines, neady of all things but 
hunger and fear ; or, if we be maintained but partly by our 
parents' cost, to expend in unnecessary maintenance, books, 
and degrees, before we come to any perfection, five-hundredth 
pounds, or a thousand marks. If by this expense of time, our 
bodies and spirits, our substance and patrimonies, we cannot 
purchase those small rewards which are ours by law and the 
right of inheritance, a poor parsonage or a vicarage of £50 
per annum ; but we must pay to the patron for the lease of a 
life, (a spent and outworn life,) either in annual pension or 
above the rate of a copy-hold, and that with the hazard and 
loss of our souls, by simony and perjury, and the forfeiture of 
all our spiritual preferments in esse and posse, both present and 
to come ; what father, after a while, will be so improvident to 
bring up his son, to his charge, to this necessary beggary .'' 
what Christian will be so irreligious as to bring up his son in 
that course of life which, by all probability and necessity, cogit 
ad turpia, enforcing to sin, will entangle him in simony and 
perjury ; when, as the poet saith, a beggar's brat taken from 
the bridge where he sits begging, if he knew the inconvenience, 
had cause to refuse it." 

He continues : " This being thus, have we not fished fair 
all this while, that are initiated divines, to find no better fruits 
for our labours .'' Do we mecerate ourselves for this ? Is it 
for this we rise so early all the year long, ' leaping (as he 
saith) out of our beds when we hear the bell ring, as if we 
had heard a clap of thunder .?' If this be all the respect, re 
ward, and honour we shall have, let us give over our books, 
and betake ourselves to some other course of life. To what 
end should we study ? 

" If there be no more hope of reward, no better en- 
couragement, I say again, let's turn soldiers, sell our 
books and buy swords, guns, and pikes, or stop bottles 
with them ; turn our philosopher's gowns (as Cleanthes 
once did) into millers' coats ; leave all, and rather betake 
ourselves to any other course of life than to continue longer 
in this misery." 

But there came a change much for the better for them ; for 
Pope, in his description of the happy state of life of the coun- 
try clergyman, thus speaks of them in allusion to their easy 
yvaj of living : 



CLERGYMEN, CLERKS, AND THE SEXTONESS. 231. 

*' October storel and best Virginia, 2 
Tythe pig3 and mortuary guinea^ I' 

1. Ale brewed in that month is the best. 2. Tobacco. 3. Every tenth 
Kg. 4. "Mortuary is a voluntary gift left to a parish church for the recom- 
©ense of personal tythes and offerings, not duly paid in the person's life- 
time," — Harris. 

According to the treaty of Westphalia, 1648, England has 
alternately the right of appointing the Bishop of Osnaburgh. 
George III. inducted his son, the late Duke of York, the va- 
cancy falling when the duke was only five years old ; a worse 
selection in every respect, as the history of his whole life will 
show, could not have been possible. 

In 1654 " the bishop attended, to consecrate a church at 
Poplar, near London ; but during the cerewiony he heard that 
some of his family was sick, and he instantly left off, without 
completing it."* 

During the commonwealth those churches and chapels that 
were built, and other graveyards, were not consecrated. 

*' The inhabitants of Wales were nearly destitute of Chris- 
tian instruction. Their language was little understood ; and 
their clergy were so ignorant and inattentive to their cares, 
that they preached scarcely one sermon in a quarter of a year. 
The people had neither bibles nor catechisms for their instruc- 
tion. The parliament, therefore, taking their case into consi- 
deration, passed an act for the better propagation of the gospel, 
and for ejecting scandalous ministers and schoolmasters. Pur- 
suant to this measure, there were soon 150 pious ministers in 
the principality ; most of them preached three or four times a 
week. In every market town was placed one, and in most 
two, schoolmasters, able and learned university men ; and 
the tythes were all employed to the maintenance of godly 
ministers, the payment of taxes to the support of schoolmas- 
ters, and the fifths to the wives and children of the ejected 
clergy."! 

The following list of vicars of Worfield church, Shropshire, 
presents a remarkable account of only four in 199 years ; from 
which it will be but fair to infer they were, at any rate, all 
temperate. It was not a valuable living : 

Demerick, the last Catholic conformed to the law established 
church during the first six years of Queen Elizabeth, died 1564. 
The next, whose name was Barney, died 1608. The next, 

name , died 1664. The next, Hancocks, died 1707. 

The next, Anderson, died 1763. 

There was one very extraordinary man, Richard Haddock, 
©f New College, Oxford. Arthur Wilson says : " He used to 
* Pennant. t History of Religious Liberty, published 1830. 



232 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

preach in his sleep ; he maketh good, learned sermons, but, 
when awake, known to be no great scholar ; in those sermons 
he makes when asleep he speaks exceedingly good Greek and 
Hebrew ; when he is awake he understandeth neither lan- 
guage : some of his auditory were willing to reduce him to 
silence, by pulling, hauling, and pinching, yet he preacheth all 
the while " He was sent to preach before the king, but was 
discovered to be a cunning fellow, feigned this trick, and got 
church preferment. 

The following is a graphic account of the clerks of Cornwall : 

" In the last age there was a familiarity between the parson 
and the clerk, which our feelings of decorum would revolt at ; 
ergo : * I have seen the ungodly flourish like a green bay tree.' 
' How can that be, maisterV said the clerk of St. Clements. 
' Of this I was myself an ear- witness.' " 

" At Kenwyn two dogs, one of which was the parson's, 
were fighting at the west end of the church ; the parson, who 
was then reading the second lesson, rushed out of the pew and 
went and parted them ; returning to his pew, and being doubt- 
ful where he had left off, he asked the clerk, '• Roger, where 
was I .?' * Why, down parting the dogs, maister,' said Roger." 

" At Mevagissay, when a non-resident clergyman officiated, 
it was usual with the squire to invite him to dinner. Seve- 
ral years ago a non-resident clergj^man was requested to do 
duty on the Sunday when the creed of St. Athanasius is di- 
rected to be read. Before he began the service the parish 
clerk asked him * Whether he intended to read the creed that 
morning.' '- Why .^' said the clergyman. * Because, if you do, 
there's no dinner for you at the squire's at Penwarne.' " 

A very short time since parish clerks used to read the lessons. 
I once heard the clerk of St. Agnes cry out, ^' At the mouth of 
the viery vurnis Shadrac, Meschac, and Abednego com voath 
and com hether." Daniel, chap. iii. 

The clerk of Lamorran, in giving out the psalm, " Like a 
timorous bird, to distant mountains fly," always said it, " Like 
a timersum burde," &c., with a shake of the head and a quiver- 
ing of the voice, which could but provoke risibility.* 

Having given some account of the clergyman and his co- 
adjuter, the clerk, I will now introduce a curious character in 
another capacity, viz., a sextoness. In the year 1637 there 
died, aged seventy-nine, Mary Marshall, who served this very 
important and necessary office at Sibsay, in Lincolnshire. She 
had been thirty-nine years a widow, during which time she 
had refused admittance into her house to any one. Although 
Tery penurious in her own habits, she feasted upward of a dozen 

* Rev. Polwhele's " Recollections in Hone's Table Book." 



CLERGYMEN, CLERKS, AND THE SEXTONESS. 233 

devilish cats at her table every day. After her seventieth year 
the was attacked by three burglers, whom, with the most extra- 
ordinary courage and presence of mind, she kept at bay for a 
considerable time ; being at last overpowered, she was robbed 
of a large sum of money, principally in gold coins ; but she 
never ceased her exertions till she convicted the thieves. She 
had filled her office for full forty years, during which time she 
had never been once absent from duty until the day of her death : 
the parishioneers, finding that she was not at her post, broke open 
the door and found her dead. She left a large sum of money."* 
The facetious Tommy Hood has been making himself very 
free with sextons, but at their expense : if he had met with 
such a person as this, (could he have been so ungallant ?) he, 
for his satire, might have passed under a different ordeal than 
that of the ordinary critic, even if the sage was equally vene- 
rablcj equally orthodoxy and had delved equally as deep in his 
grave researches. He says : " A sexton is like an undertaker, 
■who have each a percentage on ^ the bills of mortality,' and 
never see a picture of health but they long to engrave it ; both 
have the same quick ear for a churchyard -cough, and both the 
same relish for the same piece of musicy to wit,4he tolling of 
Si. Sepulchred bell: moreover, both go constantly in black; 
howbeit, it is no mourning with their livery, for they grieve 
no more for the defunct than the carrion crow of the same 
plumage does, who is the undertaker of the dead horse." 



RELIGIOUS LECTURES. 

" A LECTURE commenced 1672, called ^ Lecture Merchants.' 
It was encouraged and supported by some of the principal 
merchants and tradesmen of the city of London, and is still 
continued every Tuesday morning." 

" The Honourable Robert Boyle instituted a course of eight 
sermons in 1691, to prove the truth of the Christian religion 
against infidels, without descending to any controversies among 
Christians, and to answer any difficulties, scruples, &c. To 
this institution we are indebted for many excellent defences of 
natural and revealed religion." 

" Morning lectures commenced during the civil wars."f 

From this period commenced lectures on science, history, 
and all other subjects, where 

*' Your rich men have now learn'd of latter days 
To admire and come together, 
To hear and see a worthy scholar speak, 
As children do a peacock's feather." 

* Gentleman's Magazine. t Buck's Theological Dictionary, 

20* 



234 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



BOOK OF SPORTS. 

The Sunday sports were common, as the following lines too 
clearly prove. They also show what these sports were, and 
the people's full feeding : 

'* Now, when their dinner once is done, and that they well have fed, 
To play they go, to casting stones, to runne, or shoote. 
To tosse the light and vs indy ball alofte with hande or foote ; 
Some others trie their skill in gonnes, some wrastell all the day, 
And some to schools of fence do goe, to gaze upon the play ; 
Another set there is that do not love abroad to roam, 
But for to pass their time at cards or tables still at home." 

Barnaby Googe, 1570. 

A writer, endeavouring to prove the impropriety of an esta- 
blished form of prayer for the church service, among other argu- 
ments, uses the following : " He (the minister) posteth it over 
as fast as he can gallope ; for eyther he hath two places to serve, 
or else there are^some gaymes to be playde in the afternoon, 
as lying for the whet -stone, heathenish dancing for the ring, or 
a beare or bull to be bated, or else a jack-a-napes to ride on 
horseback, or an interlude to be playde in the church ; we speak 
not of ringing after matins is done."* 

The Puritans opposed these things with all their might ; but, 
as they did not substitute any other pleasant way of passing 
their time on this day, and from the numerous changes in the 
forms of religion, the people had lost much of their church 
reverence, and would not go there : they kept on with their 
sports as well as they could. At length King James I. put 
forth his celebrated book to regulate them. 

As it was the cause of much controversy, it may be as well 
to give the history. In the year 1604 King James issued a 
proclamation against hunting, which was of about as much use 
as whistling to allay a storm ; but it serves to show the temper 
of his mind at that time. In 1617, on his return from Scotland, 
while staying at Hoghton Hall and other places, he received 
petitions complaining of the strictness of the Puritans in keep- 
ing the Sabbath, and putting down all manly exercises and 
harmless recreations. He therefore, in this book, pointed out 
with minuteness what pastimes they might, and, indeed, ought, 
to use on Sabbath days and festivals of the church ; what run- 
ning, vaulting, and morrice-dancing ; what may-poles, church- 
ales, and other rejoicings they might indulge in after evening 
prayers were ended. He ordained that women should have 
leave to carry rushes to the church for the decoration of it, ac 
* Admonitions to Parliament, by Thomas Cartwright, 1572. 



CHURCHES. 235 

cording to their old customs.* He prohibited, upon Sundays 
only, all bear and bull batings, and bowling ; he forbid any one 
joining in them who abstained from divine service ; and he 
commanded every person to resort to his own parish church to 
hear divine service, and not to appear afterward in their sport 
with any offensive weapons. He ordered it to be read in all 
the parish churches by the clergy, and that both the judges on 
the circuits and the justices of the peace be informed thereof. 
It met with some opposition by the clergymen, but seems to 
have been generally approved of by the church-going people : 
among the Puritans it was a terrible eye-sore ; but their 
murmurings then had but little effect. In 1633 complaints 
were made in Somersetshire about church-ales and revels on 
the Lord's day, when two of the judges, being on the circuit, 
took upon themselves to issue an order for their suppression : 
as soon as this reached the ears of King Charles I., it was consi- 
dered as an invasion of his prerogative, and they were censured ; 
and this Book of Sports was again put forth, to create farther 
commotion. It remained till the year 1643, when the parlia- 
ment ordered it to be burnt by the common hangman 



CHURCHES. 

" Within that temple where the air 
Seems loaded with the breath of prayer." 

Although the Christian religion will never change, there 
are many things connected with it that have changed and are- 
still changing. Some of these changes I will endeavour to place 
before the reader. 

I cannot help first observing on the difference between this 
period and that of Catholic times. "f The sedilias and piscinas 

* Strewing the churches with rushes was an annual festival. The bunches 
of rushes were gayly ornamented with ribands, &c., and attended from the 
river's brink by banners and music borne in triumph by the young and old 
in the village. The object and intention of them was to keep warmth in 
kneeling, and to deaden the sound of the nailed shoes in walking. 

t At the same time that the "Book of Sports " was ordered to be burnt, 
another ordinance was passed, " for removing all monuments of superstition 
and idolatry, commanding all tables and altars of stone to be demolished, 
communion-tables to be removed from the east end of the churches, the 
rails to be removed, the chancels to be levelled, all superstitious furniture 
to be removed from the communion-tables, and all crosses, crucifixes, 
images, copes, surplices, and superstitious vestments to be taken away and 
defaced." — See Diurnal, vol. i. 



236 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

were no longer used ; the pictures at the chancel end were 
superseded by the ten commandments, the Lord's prayer, and 
the creed ; no lights were permitted on the altar, shedding their 
lurid, yet expressive, beams ; no flowers on festival days, so 
symbolic of the joy of those periods ; these flowers were of the 
rainbow tints, which " surpass all tints," and can be traced 
in use from time immemorial. At a later period, and at those 
seasons when natural ones were scarce, ingenuity, prompted 
by piety, introduced artificial ones : these were first made in 
Tuscany. During the period under review they could no 
longer, in the language of Drayton, 

" Load the altars till they rise 
Clouds from the burnt sacrifice ; 
With your censors sling aloof 
Their snaells till they ascend the roof." 

It, on some festival day, a devout Catholic of an ancient 
family was to stray into the parish church, probably built by an 
ancestor, how would he be surprised ! What Protestant could 
comprehend his feelings ? That, I conceive, would be impos- 
sible, however, whether the change has been for the better or 
the worse, and to this query " this deponent saith not," yet 
he may say, 

" The lights are fled, the garlands dead, 
And all but he departed." 

The learned author of " Euiope during the Middle Ages," in 
writing of Englaod, states that, " if it had not been for the 
clergy, the whole nation would have been one den of thieves, 
and have inevitably become depopulated." He says that 
" the churches under feudal grants were placed under some 
warrior, who was styled tutor or advocatus." The Rev. E. 
Burton, in his description of" The Antiquities of Rome," states : 
*' The kings of England in former times were protectors of the 
church of St. Paul, in Rome, as the Emperor of Germany is 
now of that of St. Peter, the King of France of St. John of 
Lateran, and the King of Spain of St. Maria Maggiora." 

Dr. Wiseman writes : " The old Christians loved to be called 
apostolic, the moderns prefer being called evangelical." " By 
the early canons of the church, there were to be no tem- 
poral affairs carried on in them. By the council of Chalons in 
650, no one wearing arms was to presume to enter ; the weapons 
were left outside. There were no seats in them. St. Ambrose 
would not permit the emperor to remain in the choir after 
making his offering. The poor could then walk as near the altar 
as kings. Among the laity there was perfect equality. The 



CHURCHES. 237 

churches, particularly some of the large cathedrals, were made 
sanctuaries, which, in that former rude state of society, saved 
numbers from being put to death in lawless quarrels, and 
gave time for wicked sinners to gain repentance and become 
reconciled."* — D'lgby. App. xvii. 

How wise was this regulation, particularly at that unci- 
vilized period. Even now, how often have the best of us had 
occasion to regret some rash act we may have committed for 
want of time for due reflection ! How excellent it often is to 
have some superior power to thwart us in our unholy resolves, 
and thus compel a pause ! for 

"The soul's dark cottage, battered and dismayed, 
Receives new lights through chinks that time has made." Waller. 

In the porches of former times marriages were often cele- 
brated, and over the porches frequently were schools, | and even 
courts of law have been held in them. They were also consi- 
dered safe places to store deeds and other valuable writings. 

The fonts were large, some of them suflacient to immerse a 
child all over. 

Pulpits were sometimes attached outside of churchs, in the 
churchyards. Sermons were often delivered in the cloisters of 
cathedrals, and in the open courts of colleges and religious houses. 

The custorrt of writing sermons was pretty uniform during 
the reign of Henry VIH., to prevent malicious accusations. 



CHURCH DESECRATION 

It appears pretty clear that Henry VIII. never intended the 
reformation of religion to extend so far as it has done : he 
could set the ball in motion, but he had not force sufficient to 
stop its progress when he wished it. In 1536 he issued a 
proclamation, (and his proclamations had the force of law,) that 
one copy of the Scriptures might be in each church, chained 
there — that " it was only permitted out of his goodness and 
liberality J not out of his duty.'*'' 

In the time of Queen Elizabeth the Irish parliament passed 
an act, that the uniformity of the common prayer should be in 
Latin, where the minister had not the knowledge of the Irish 

* Holyrood Palace, Edinborough, is now a sanctuary : no one residing 
there can be arrested. 

+ John Evelyn, Esq., who died in 1705, was first taught reading in 
Wotton church-porch. 



238 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

tongue. No arrangement was made for translating it into the 
Irish language.* — Cha loner. 

In 1640 the Chaplain of Pendennes, in Cornwall, adminis- 
tered the sacrament in the Cornish language. 

In 1537 Cromwell, Henry VIII. 's vicar-general, issued the 
first order for the demolition of shrines and relics. After that 
came the order from the puritanical parliament, (1643.) The 
following extracts will show the way in which these terrible 
orders were executed : 

According to Raine's " History of the Churches of Durham," 
" the reformation removed little except shrines. Dean Home, 
in 1551, wantonly destroyed much of its (the cathedral's) splen- 
dour. Dean Whittingham, whose wife was a relation of Calvin, 
did more destruction still. The Scotch prisoners, after the 
battle of Dunbar, mutilated the Neville and other monuments." 

Bishop Hall, in his " Hard Measures," informs us that 
" Sheriff Tofts and Alderman Lindsey, attended by many 
zealous fellows, came into the chapel at Norwich to look for 
superstitious pictures and reliques of idolatry ; and sent for me, 
to let me know they found the windows full of images, w^hich 
were very offensive, and must be demolished. I told them 
they were the pictures of some ancient and worthy bishops, 
as St. Ambrose, St. Austin, &c. ; it was answered me that they 
were so many popes. One younger man among the rest 
would take upon him to defend that every diocesan bishop was 
a pope : I answered him with scorn, and obtained leave that 
I might, with the least loss of defacing the windows, give 
orders for taking off that offence, which I did by causing the 
heads of the pictures to be removed, since I knew the bodies 
could not offend. It was all of no use ; they broke the 
windows and stole the leads." Yes, yes, the leads in an 
old English church or chapel would be worth something 
considerable, so that here we see the effect of " the creepings 
of the flesh ;^^ viz., of " Avarice, the god and demon of vulgar 
minds." 

" Covehithe church, Suffolk, now a ruin, effected 1644. 
William Dorsing, of infamous memory, in his sacrilegious com- 
mission through this county, thus speaks of this his depreda- 
tions here : ^ We broke down two hundred pictures, one pope, 
with divers cardinals, Christ and the Virgin Marj^, a picture of 

* The custom of smoking tobacco in churches had become so prevalent, 
that Pope Urban in 1638 issued an order prohibiting it. 

Percy, in his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, says, "A gentleman 
has informed me that, going once into a church in Holland, he saw the male 
part of the audience sitting with their hats on, smoking tobacco, while the 
preacher was holding forth in his morning- gown." 



CHURCHES. 239 

God, of Jesus in capitals on the roof of the church, and cheru 
bims with crosses on their breasts, and a cross in the chancel ; 
all which, with divers pictures in the windows, (which we 
could not reach, and the people refused to raise the ladders,) 
we left a warrant with the constables to destroy in fourteen 
days.' "* 

No one, with any feeling and reflection, can wonder that " the 
people refused to raise the ladders." The ordinary feelings of 
civilized life would plead strongly in their favour as mere 
beautiful works of art, whether they excited the warmer feel- 
ings of reverence or not. 

I know there was a difference of opinion upon this subject, 
and I should not act the part of a faithful historian if I with- 
held those contemporaneous, but adverse, opinions of this 
period which come across me : 1 give, therefore, the following 
short dialogue from " Andronicus," a tragedy by Philonax 
Lonekin, 1661 : 

Crato. " I grieve the chapel was defaced ; 'twas stately ! 
Cleobulus. I love no such triumphant churches — 

They scatter my devotion ; while my sight 
Is courted to observe the sumptuous cost, 
I find my heart lost in my eyes ; 
While that, a holy horror, seems to dwell 
Within a dark, obscure, and humble cell ! 
Crato. But I love churches which mount up to the skies ! 
For my devotion rises with the roof; 
Therein my soul doth heaven anticipate !" 

The following extract, from the ^^ Penny Magazine," gives 
a frightful description of what was perpetrated on Litchfield 
cathedral : 

" No documents, nor hardly anything referring to its erection, 
exist ; all its records were destroyed, either at the time of the 
reformation or during the civil wars in the seventeenth century. 
On the former occasion it was despoiled of all its ornaments 
which could be easily converted into another use ; its richly 
decorated shrines^ and gold and silver vessels, being all confis^ 
cated to the crown. 

" At the commencement of the civil war the close of Litch- 
field was fortified by the royalists, and the command intrusted 
to the Earl of Chesterfield. In March, 1643, the garrison was 
attacked by Robert Greville Lord Brooke, a zealous Puritan, 
who is said to have endeavoured to invoke the aid of Heaven 
by a vow, that, if he should succeed, he would level the cathe- 
dral with the ground. But on the second of the month, which 
happened to be St. Chad's day, (this cathedral is dedicated to 

* Antiquarian Itinerary , 



240 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

that saint,) his lordship was shot dead by a gentleman station- 
ed on the great tower of the church. The garrison, however, 
were obliged to surrender on the third day after, when the 
parliamentary soldiers entered and took possession. The fol- 
lowers of Lord Brooke did not quite throw down the cathedral, 
but they inflicted upon it both desecration and injury to no small 
extent. * They exercised their barbarism,' says Dugdale, ' in 
demolishing all the monuments, pulling down the curiously 
carved work, battering in pieces the costly windows, and destroy- 
ing the evidences and records belonging to that church ; which 
being done, they stabled their horses in the body of it, kept 
courts of guard in the cross aisles, broke up the pavement, and 
every day hunted a cat with hounds throughout the church, 
delighting themselves in the echo from the goodly vaulted roof.' 

*' The parliamentary forces kept possession of the close till 
the twenty-first of April, when they were driven out by the 
royalists ; it remained in their hands till July, 1646, when it 
was once more attacked, and compelled to admit a new garrison 
after a brief resistance. It was reckoned that no less than 2000 
cannon-shot and 1500 hand-grenades had been discharged 
against it ; the three spires were nearly battered down, and 
hardly anything left standing except the walls ; even they were 
everywhere defaced and mutilated." 

To give the reader an idea of the outside ornaments on these 
buildings, which have in almost all instances been destroyed, 
I copy the following from the " Gentleman's Magazine :" 

Statuary at Wells' Cathedral. — " The annexed de- 
scription of the sculpture with which the exterior of this beauti- 
ful building is decorated has recently appeared, from the pen 
of Mr. Cockerill) the architect : 

" Upward of three hundred statues, in nine tiers, decorate 
the west and north fronts. In the first nearest the earth, in 
niches and under canopies, are the personages of the first and 
second Christian missions to this country, as St. Paul, Joseph 
of Arimathea, and St. Augustine and his followers. In the 
second tier are the angels, chanting Gloria in excelsis, and hold- 
ing crowns, spiritual and temporal — the rewards of those pre- 
dictions. In the third tier, to the south, subjects of the Old 
Testament ; to the north, the New — compositions of the highest 
merit and interest ; two of them are cited by Flaxman as exam- 
ples of pure and expressive art. In the fourth and fifth tiers 
are contained an historical series of the lords, spiritual and tem- 
poral, saints and martyrs, under whom the church has flourish- 
ed in this country ; as King Ina, founder of the conventual 
church- Edward the Elder, founder of the (cathedral) Episco- 
pal chuich of Wells ; the Saxon, Danish, Norman, and Plan- 



CHURCHES. 241 

tagenet dynasties ; the remarkable daughters and allies by 
marriage of the royal families of England, with the leading 
characters and lords of the church ; as Archbishop Brethelmus, 
St. Dunstan, Bishops Asser and Grimbald, and the Earl of 
Mercia, surrounding Alfred, &c. : they form a complete illus- 
tration of William of Malmesbury and the early historians of 
our country ; *' a calendar for unlearned men " as well as for 
unlearned artists ; for thus are many of them as beautiful as 
they are deeply interesting to Englishmen. In the sixth tier 
there are ninety-two compositions of the resurrection, startling 
in significance, and pathos, and expression, worthy of John of 
Pisa, or a greater man, John Flaxman. In the seventh tier 
are the angels sounding the last trump, the four archangels 
conspicuous. In the eighth tier are the apostles, of colossal 
dimensions and admirable sculpture. In the ninth tier are the 
remains of the Saviour in judgment, with niches on either side 
for the Virgin and St. John, as usual. 

This magnificent picture of the great doctrines of, the Chris- 
tian dispensation, and its peculiar relation to this country, 
hitherto sealed, was unravelled at no small expense of time 
and meditation, (since there are no records or inscriptions of 
any sort,) and indeed of colds and catarrhs, caught at Kill- 
Canon corner in the months of November and December. 

When Oliver Cromwell was in Scotland he turned the church 
of Ayr into an armory. The beautiful church of Saint An- 
drews, which was, from first to last, the work of one hundred 
and fifty years, was destroyed in a day. 

In Scotland the work of desecration was carried farther than 
in England ; I believe there is only the cathedral of Glasgow 
at all preserved without injury. In one of Sir Walter Scott's 
works he introduces a character who thus speaks of it : " Ah ! 
it's a brave kirk ; none o' yee whigma-leeries, and curie w-urlies, 
and opensteeckhens about it ; a solide weel-jointed mason wark, 
that will stand as long the warld keeps hands and gun-pother off 
it."* And surely it is best for it to stand " as long as the warld," 
for generations yet unborn to " pace down the long-drawn 
aisles of light and shade, where the glowing beams through 
tinted windows fall on the youthful fair while kneeling to ask 
Heaven's grace, so beautifully expressed by the poet :"f 

" Rose bloom fell on her hands together press'd, 
And on her silver cross soft amethyst, 
And on her hair a glory like a saint." 

Keat's Eve of St. Agyits. 

Sorrowfully, but truly, may the learned Digby say, " Gothic 

* Rob Roy. t Gardinar. 

21 



2'ii2 THE SOCIAL HISTOKY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

architecture has sutfered three kinds of degradation ; first, that 
caused by time ; second, by political or religious revolutions, 
during which men have fallen on its parts with savage fury ; 
third, that arising from modern taste, which has caused more 
than even revolution, cutting up and disorganizing the edifice, 
killing it in form as in symbol, in its logic, in its beauty." 

I believe there are none of the Christian sects who manifest 
less veneration for relics than the society of Friends ; but it gives 
me pleasure to notice that a Friend of the name of Fowler, who 
wrote a small journal of a tour he had taken in this state in 
1830, could not help noticing some venerable trees, now stand- 
ing at Flushing, Long Island, under which George Fox preach- 
ed in 1672. Thus is the voice of nature stronger than the 
rules of a sect ; this feeling, this holy feeling of venerating those 
things which our more venerable friends sanctified, is too irre- 
sistible to be controlled ; 

Nature speaks 



A parent's language, and in tones as mild 
As e'er hush'd infant on its mother's breast, 
Wins us to learn her lore." 

And from this feeling some of the ruined abbeys have been 
restored. So late as 1788 the clergymen of Malvern, Worces- 
tershire, had built a pidgeon-house on the ivy-crested walls of 
the abbe;f , and kept among the ruins his hounds ; but fashion 
having selected those romantic hills as a source of pleasure and 
summer retirement, which has increased the population, those 
nuisances (in such a situation) are removed, and proper repairs 
have been carried on to restore it once more to a place of wor- 
ship ; it therefore no longer exhibits " the roofless walls of 
expelled Christianity." 

" Holy and pure are the pleasures of piety, 

Drawn from the fountain of mercy and love, 
Endless, exhaustless, exempt from satiety, 
Rising unearthly, and soaring above." 

Dr. Dunham says : " The personal character of a sovereign 
will have greater weight than we generally imagine." The 
change in the religious character of the wealthy was such, 
that, imder the profligate Charles II., it was unfashionable to be 
religious : if this class of society attended the church at all, 
it was in the afternoon ; and if a lady of ton went to church, it 
was to see company and deal out courtesies from her pew ; but 
her Sunday was more commonly spent in the park and at eve- 
ning parties playing cards. 

How true is the remark of Claudian : " The manners of the 
world are formed according to those of kings." 



CHURCHES. 243 

*' For princes are the glass, the school the book, 
Where subjects' eyes do learn, do read, do look." 

The annexed particulars are for those who may be curious 
to know something of the fitting up of English churches : 

I will first notice the recent restoration and repairs of the 
Temple church, originally built by the knight templars, which 
was begun in 1185 ; as it occupied about fifty years in building, 
it consequently shows the connexion of the Norman with the 
pointed style of architecture at the transition period. 

The groining of the lofty ceiling is in perfect unison with 
the whole design ; the ribs are lightly, elegantly, and dehcately 
moulded, rising from caps of slender marble columns, and 
branching out in such palmy and graceful lines, that the mind 
is prepared to meet the flowery canopy which they support, 
and which enables them to complete the coup-tTodl of a 
Christian church. 

To soften down the flood of light, stained glass windows were 
introduced, with religious symbols and appropriate decorative 
heraldry. To harmonize with this pious feeling, the walls and 
,^he ceiling are appropriately adorned, and a new decorative 
tesselated pavement fresh laid down.* 

WhiteM'"ashing — that chilly, unreflective, unfeeling, unar- 
tistic, and mean commodity, which was introduced about the 
twelfth century — is abolished. 

As piety, morals, and taste are much influenced by cha- 
racteristic and appropriate colouring in religious edifices, the 
Templars introduced colourings in Mosaic and decorative 
histories, chiefly taken from instructive Mosaic paintings. In 
our day these emblems are but little thought of, and are, con- 
sequently, but little understood, and less regarded ; in those 
days, however, which we, in the heat of our fanciful zeal and 
vain theorizing, denominate dark, they, by deeper thought, 
profounder reflection, and closer observation, found colouring 
produced thought, this great characteristic, this, the greatest 
and noblest attribute of privileged humanity, by its harmonizing 
with our better feelings and warmer conceptions, and thus 
calling it forth and presenting hallowed objects to reflect upon. 

The colours mostly introduced were yellow or gold, bright 
blue, and scarlet, which were taken mystically to represent 
light^ air J and warmth ; green represented fridtfalness ; black, 
which was seldom introduced, represented tenebrce or evil. 
Mr. Willement says, " The ceilings were made resplendent 
with stars and rosettes in gold, on a rich ground of azure, and 
more frequently by flowing ornaments drawn with great preci* 

* The tiles are each six inches square. 



244 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

sion, but without stifFne.^ in the above powerful colours, on 
a ground tinted to represent ancient vellum, producuig an effect 
of the richest harmony," conveyed through the eye to the 
mind, and thus fostering a feeling of piety in the wavermg and 
unsteady. Mankind are not alike devout ; the feelings m some 
are at times given to wandering : these symbolic objects have a 
tendency to keep the mind from roving entirely at large, and 
thus more readily reclaim and restore the sublimer feelings ; 
besides, they are the^ means of teaching the beauty of harmony 
in colours on the outward objects of God's creation, and thus 
either recall or create a revering spirit. 

This symbohzing has a powerful effect, a very important use ; 
it tends to promote inquiry, and thus to promote profound 
thoughts in the rising noviciate ; its operation is 

«' Like words, 

That leave upon the still susceptive sense 
A message undelivered, till the mind 
Awakes to apprehensiveness and takes it.'' 

The crusaders' effigies, the sepulchral remains of some of those 
wondrous men whose untiring energy and undaunted zeal led 
them to such deeds of noble daring in the dreadful battle's strife, 
and also in their " seeking the weak, oppressed to relieve," 
have been restored in all their original forms and costume. 
The pews have been entirely removed, and oaken benches, 
with high backs, profusely but richly and appropriately carved, 
substituted for them. The ancient organ, built by Father 
Schmidt, has been fresh renovated, embellished, and repaired. 

As " actions speak louder than words," this church alone is 
worth any artist or architect taking a voyage to see it : here is a 
noble specimen of what our forefathers thought, felt, and done 
nearly seven hundred years past ; here we come in actual 
contact with them ; here, " though dead, they yet speak ;" 
here succeeding artists for succeeding ages may communicate 
with them in their thoughts, words, and deeds : it is to them a 
school of design, of science, and history ; but, let us hope, to all 
a temple of peace, piety, and chanty : at any rate, it cannot 
fail to produce trains of patient thought, (and it was " patient 
thought only that made a Newton,'') and, if not a desire and 
resolution to excel, it will most certainly enforce a determina- 
tion to rival and emulate.* I have selected the following 
particulars from Godwin's " Churches of London :" 

In St. Al ban's church, Wood-street, is an hour-glass fixed 
to the pulpit. This was not at all an uncommon appendage, 
before the invention of clocks and watches. 

* I am indebted to the New York Albion for some extracts from vraifif 
this is partly written. 



CHURCHES. 245 

Fosbroke says : " A rector of Bibury used to preach two 
hours, turning his iiour-glass to obtain the required time. After 
the text the squire of the parish withdrew, smoked his pipe, and 
returned to receive the blessino;." 

The following is a very appropriate motto for an hour-glass. 
I have seen it sculptured under one on a tomb-stone : 

" Souls go through death's narrow pass 
Like lots of sand through hour-glass." 

In St. Sepulchre's church is a monument to John Smith, 
Governor of Virginia, buried 1631 ; and there is the finest pul- 
pit (mahogany) sounding board in London; it is in the shape 
of a paraboHc reflector, twelv^e feet in diameter. 

In the church of St. Catherine, Leadenhall-street, Dr. Pear- 
son first delivered his lectures on the creed : he died in 1686. 
Dr. Benjamin Stone was turned out of this church in the time 
of Cromwell : he was not, from his sentiments, deemed fit to 
hold his office. He was at first confined in Crosby Hall, then re- 
moved to Plymouth, and, after paying d260, was restored in 1660. 

In Christ's church, Newgate-street, the celebrated Whitting- 
ton, thrice mayor of London, founded a library in 1429. Ri- 
chard Baxter, the celebrated non-conformist divine, preached 
here. He was fined by Judge Jefieries five hundred marks, and 
was to be imprisoned in the King's Bench till it was paid : he 
was imprisoned eighteen months. 

In Saint Dionysius's church, Fenchurch-street, there are two 
old syringes. They were used before fire-engines were invent- 
ed : they are about 2\ feet long, and were strapped to the 
persons who used them. 

In All-Hallows' church, Thames-street, was buried Dr. Litch- 
field in 1447. After his death there were found 3083 sermons in 
his hand-writing. The communion-table is a marble slab, sup- 
ported by a kneeling figure. 

In St. Lawrence's church, Jewry, is a very fine glazed screen, 
and the handsomest vestry-room in London. 

All-Hallows, Lombard-street, from being surrounded by other 
buildings, is called " the inmsihle church." Here is a hand- 
some carved oak altar-piece, surmounted by seven candlesticks, 
typical of the seven churches: the columns are fluted, and in 
each flute is a string of vine leaves and ears of wheat. In the 
upper part of the lobby is a small curtain carved in wood, which 
seems to hide some foliao-e behind : it is well executed. 

In St. Stephen's church, Wallbrook, which is Wren's master- 
piece, is a fine painting, by the American West, of the stoning 
of St. Stephen. 

In St. Martin's, Ludgate Hill, around the font is a Greek 

21* 



246 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN 

palindrome inscription ; the letters will read either backward or 
forward, and mean, " Cleanse thy sins, not merely thy outward 
sel/.''^ It was frequent in the Greek churches. It is found in 
the fron-t of the BasiHca at Constantinople, in several English 
churches, at Dulwich College, and in France.* 

In St. Helen's church, Bishopgate, is a poor-box supported 
by a curiously carved mendicant asking alms. 

These are common to all the churches. Wordsworth has 
written an appropriate couplet for them : 

" Give all thou hast ; High Heaven rejects the lOre 
Of nicely calculated less or more." 

The inexorable tax-gatherer has so drained the pocket, that 
they are become nearly useless : they are now the residence 
of the crafty spider, where he passes the winter solstice in 
sullen, silent, sacred security, undisturbed by the gentle drop 
of the widows' mite. 

Aubrey, in 1678, says : " Poor-boxes were, before the refor- 
mation, often in inns as well as churches." 

"The poor man's box is there too ; if ye find anything 
Besides the poesy, and that half rubbed out too, 
For fear it should awaken too much charity, 
Give it to pious uses — that is, spend it." 

Spanish Curate, 1647. 

In some of the London churches there are bachelor's pews. 

The galleries in churches seemed to have originated in the 
desire to separate the sexes — sometimes the men being above 
and sometimes below. 

" Lord, how delightful 'tis to see 
A whole assembly worship thee." 

A very singular circumstance happened at the church of St. 
Andrew, (under shaft,) in London, in the year 1701. 'A young 
Jewess was converted here ; after her baptism her father — De 
Breta, a merchant — turned her our of doors, which was the 
occasion of an act of parliament being passed, compelling Jews 
to provide for their Protestant children. | 

* The following is one in Latin : " Subi dura a rudibus " — " from dif- 
ficulties pleasures ensue." 

•f I expect the act has been a dead letter : but there are a few conver- 
sions occasionally taking place. I find in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 
XV., 1841, that there are eight converted Israelites now church-of-England 
clergymen ; and that the Rev. H. S. Joseph has. at Liverpool, a regular weekly 
service in Hebrew, and had sixteen Jewish communicants in his congrega- 
tion. In the sixteenth volume there is an account of the Rev. Michael 
Solomon being consecrated the first church-of-England bishop of .Terusalem : 
he was originally an Israelite. 



FUNERALS, TOMBS, ETC. 247 

This church was one of the earliest pewed, (in 1520,) where, 
as Gay had noticed in another place, 

" A prude, at noon and evening prayer, 
Had worn her velvet cushion bare ; 
Upward she taught her eye to roll, 
As if she watched her soaring soul." 

Between the windows there are a regular series of paintings 
of the twelve apostles, executed 1726. 

To show the increasing application of cast iron, there was 
erected, about twenty years past, in a fashionable village near 
Liverpool, a church all of this metal, from within two feet of 
the ground to the roof — even the very pinnacles and battlements 
of the lofty tower ; it is lined inside with brick. Its dimen- 
sions are one hundred and nineteen feet long, forty-seven feet 
broad, and the tower ninety-six feet high. 

Americans visiting England would find a perambulation of 
the churches highly instructive ; appealing strongly to theii 
warm imaginations, interesting to the kindliest feelings of the 
heart, and full of information and instruction to the mind. The 
monuments alone will remind them that there lie the remains 
of many of their ancestors who once were great and noble ; 



' And the nobleness that lies 

In other men, sleeping, but never dead, 
Will rise in majesty to meet their own." 



FUNERALS, TOMBS, &c. 

" Lo ! as the surpliced train draws near 
To this last mansion of mankind, 
The slow sad bell, the sable bier, 
In holy musings wrap the mind." Mallet. 

On this subject the historian cannot help but observe many 
changes after the reformation. Kenelm Digby informs us, 
" In the middle ages, in cities, there were no monuments of 
decoration which correspond with the heathen philosophy, no 
pantheons, columns, statues of kings, or triumphal arches. 

" If at the funerals of great nobles or kings there was a 
more magnificent pageant, it was always ecclesiastical, always 
monastic — never secular or military." 

Montaigne says^ " If I were a composer of books, I would 



248 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

compose a register of different deaths, with a commentary ; for 
whoever could teach man how to die, would teach them how 
to live." It is the most remarkable action of human life. It 
is the master-day, the day that judges all the rest.* 

What amusement and instruction may be found in a church- 
yard, to 

" Stoop o'er the place of graves, and softly sway 
The sighing herbage by the gleaming stone ; 
That they who near the churchyard's willows stray, 

And listen in the deepening gloom alone, 
May think of gentle souls that's passed away 
Like the pure breath into the vast unknown, 
Sent forth from heaven among the sons of men^ 
And gone into the boundless heaven again." Bryant, 

Brown, a writer on urn burials, states that " the cemetral cells 
of ancient Christians and martyrs were filled with draughts of 
Scripture stories." 

In the account of the funeral of Faire Veliera, 1598, " the 
corpse was, with funeral pompe, convey ede to the churche in a 
hearse, and there solemnely entered, nothing omitted which 
necessite or custome would claime ; a sermon, a banquette, and 
like decorations." " The carrying of ivy, laurel, rosemary, or 
yew," says Bourne, " is an emblem of the soul's immortality ; 
bay and rosemary usually chosen — the bay, as is said, survives 
from the root when apparently dead, and the latter from its 
supposed virtue in strengthening the memory : the graves 
were bound over with plants that would take root and afford 
it protection." 

The first public military funeral in England was Sir Philip 
Sydney's, who was mortally wounded at the battle of Zut- 
phen in 1586. 

The first naval one was the Earl of Sandwich's, who was 
killed in Solebay fight in 1672. 

The following is a short account of Oliver Cromwell's funeral 
in Westminster Abbey, which was attended with great pomp, 
and but little reconcileable to republican notions : " The walls 
were hung with two hundred and forty escutcheons ; ^ the 
splendid sorrows that did adorn the hearse ' were twenty-six 
large embossed shields and twenty-four smaller, with crowns ; 
sixty badges, with his crest ; thirty-six scrolls, with mottoes ; 
his effigy carved and superbly arrayed; a velvet pall, which 
contained eighty yards. Not long after this event his grave 
was rifled, with the same rabid demoniacal desecration by the 
royalists as was ever done on any occasion by the fanatical 

* Mores Catholici. 



FUNERALS, TOMBS, ETC 249 

Puritans : his body hung in chains, and his head ^ exposed to 
the peltings of the pitiless storm ' for twenty years." App. xviii. 

In 1666 an act was passed, ordering the bodies of all, whether 
male or female, to be buried in nothing but woollen. As 
woollen was the chief manufactory, this may be said to be a 
politic act. There was a five pound penalty, if not complied 
W"ith. Before that time women in particular were frequently 
buried arrayed in their most sumptuous apparel, and adorned 
in their sepulchre with the most glittering ornaments they 
possessed. The fanciful and not inelegant shroud was, after 
this, mostly used, and generally with part of it richly orna- 
mented (by punches) hanging out at the foot of the coffin. 

How careful has mankind ever been, and how curious and 
various have been the ways taken, to preserve the remains of 
those we love. We read that Moses, when he departed from 
Egypt, took with him the bones of Joseph ; and, except there is 
something really immoral, actually producing evil consequences, 
we ought to judge these efforts with the greatest charity and 
liberality, without regarding our own taste ; the voice of nature 
will consent, whether the voice of man does so or not. 

"Absent or dead, still let our friends be dear; 
A sigh the absent claim, the dead a tear." 

The mole-like grubbings of late years in England have 
brought forth some curious ancient relics, which have excited 
our wonder and surprise. 

A corpse was discovered, in 1835, buried in a log of wood ; 
the log seemed to have been sawed down the centre, and a 
vacancy scooped out of the middle where the body was placed : 
it was sewed up in skins, with every appearance of having been 
the corpse of some one of the natives before the Roman inva- 
sion, perhaps two thousand years past. 

There is a tomb rudely sculptured, at Dewsbury, in Yorkshire, 
of one block of stone, resembling a small house, evidently of 
the Saxon age. In the old churches the graves do not seem to 
have been very deep. The thick slab which covers the body 
serves also as a floor to walk upon. Some of the oldest grave- 
stones are in the form of a cross. Bodies have been found 
in coffins of clay, three inches thick, dove-tailed together like 
carpenters' work, and then baked. Lead coffins were in use in 
the Saxon age. St. Dunstan was buried first in a leaden coffin 
enclosed in an oaken one, which was covered with one of lead, 
and then banded with iron. 

Coffins of lead were often in the shape of the body, closely 
fitting it, and exhibiting a cast of the head outside, as a bust. 



250 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

Sir John Spencer, the rich London alderman, who died in 
1610, was thus buried in St. Helen's church, Bishopgate-street ; 
and so also was buried Thomas Sutton, Esq., the noble founder 
of the Charter House school, who died in 1611. 

Tombs and cenotaphs have assumed some very anomalous 
appearances since the reformation. In the chancel of the church 
at Bunnev, Notting-hamshire, is a marble tomb on which stands 
a full-size statue in the plain dress of the times : it represents 
one of the Parkins family, in a wrestling attitude.* He was a 
great wrestler, and would travel any distance to wrestle with an 
individual. From this family is descended the Lord RanclifFes 
of the present day. 

The cenotaph of the Duke of Buckingham, who was stabbed 
by Felton, stands contrary to all decent propriety, opposite the 
altar in Portsmouth church : it is said to contain his heart ; his 
body was buried in Westminster Abby.f On Bishop Hoadley's 
monument, in Winchester cathedral, " is blended together the 
cap of liberty, the pastoral staff, magna charta, and the Holy 
Scriptures,"" 1761. J — Winkleh Cathedrals. 

The celebrated Admiral Drake, who died in the West Indies 
in the year 1596, the greatest commander of his time, and who 
was buried in Westminster Abbey, has as yet no monument ; 
justifying a remark of Mills : " The bust is tardily raised 
to buried merit." If he had been buried in the churchyard, I 
should say : 

" Come clear the weeds from off his grave, 
And we will sing a passing stave 
In honour of that hero brave." 

Those who died under sentence of excommunication, or, like 
duellists, were not entitled to the rights of Christian burial, 
were laid up in sarcophagi. § 

'* He that lies unburied wants not his hearse, 
For unto him a tomb's the universe." Lucan. 

There is a kind of stone in Greece called Lapis Assius, of 
which they had their beautifully sculptured sarcophagi 

* In the language of Le Baume, " I speak of what I've seen ;" and, from 
what is now traditionally reported, I may say of him as Chaucer said of Sir 
To pas : 

" Of wrastling there was none his pere, 
Where any msm shulde stonde." 

t Pennant. 

t The French greatly excel in cenotaphs. In their celebrated La pere la 
Chasse they have varieties of them in the Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman 
styles. 

4 This Greek word literally means flesh eating. 



FUNERALS, TOMBS, %-rc. 25% 

made. It is a species of limestone ; and it is said the body will 
become decomposed within a few weeks in a tomb formed of it. 
When Lord Byron visited Troy he observed, " Who will 
persuade me, when I recline upon a mighty tomb, I am not 
•eclining upon a hero .?" 



BRASSES. 



" The faintest relics of a shrine 
May bring forth thoughts which are divine," Byron. 

There is no one, possessing the least feeling and considera- 
tion, but what laments the destruction of the brasses by the 
Puritans in 1642. 

They began to be introduced in the year 1308. " They 
preserved armorial bearings before the college of arms was 
created, and also illustrated historical rules and other subjects." 
They were about half an inch thick, and long enough to give 
a full-length portrait, of either male or female, as large as life, 
and let into the slab (flush) of stone on which they were laid, 
either in the church-floor or on the side-walls, or top or sides 
of a monument. In many cases, where there was a large family 
vault, the whole family would be found thus sculptured in 
effigy. They were brought into general use about the middle 
of the fourteenth century, and were chiefly made in Flanders ; 
designs were sent over, and thus formed a considerable traffk; 
till the order for their destruction.* — Godwin'' s Churches. 

The latest brass was supposed to be put on the tomb of 
Bishop Harsnet, 1631, in Chigwell church, Essex. 

There is a recorded instance of those in the church of Great 
Yarmouth being destroyed in 1551, (many years before the 
order made by the Puritan parliament,) to make weights and 
measures for the town ;-\ showing that at that early period of 
the reformation the reverential awe and devout feelings had 
began to slacken. 

In the church books of St. Benedict, Gracechurch-street, 
London, 1642, is entered, " Received for superstitious brasses, 
nine shillings and sixpence." A pitiful sum, and which explains 
one of the real causes of the destruction being carried so far. 
It was a fine chance for some of the underhngs to get money, 
who executed this otherwise unthankful office. There were 

* The first date of the Arabic numerals being used on tombs is on a brass 
plate in Ware church, 1454. 
t Gentleman's Magazine 



252 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

but few churches in London but what the brasses would have 
fetched as many pounds for old metal. 

From the Gentleman'' s Magazine for 1839 I learn, with 
regret, that what few are left seem to be fast going by stealing, 
(irom Westminster Abbey.) How different were the people 
of former times ! but what will not the poor do who ace in want 
of a bit of bread } no place or thing is sacred. 

" He whom the dread of want ensnares, 
With baseness acts, with meanness bears." Horace 



BURIED MONEY. 

Readers of English periodicals cannot help but read occa- 
sionally of Roman coins being found in various parts ; the 
reason is, the Romans had money and various utensils buried 
with them. It is probable there were not less than 100,000 
funerals per year. Csesar invaded Britain fifty-five years before 
the birth of our Saviour, and the Romans left it four hundred 
and twenty-six years after, making their stay about five hun- 
dred years. If only one coin was deposited with each, it would 
amount to fifty millions during the period they were there : 
the earth is now a sort of banker. See Matt. 25 : 18.* 

The introduction of this circumstance leads me to explain a 
curious custom, founded on the old English Saxon laws, called 
hidden treasure trove. Money or other valuables found in the 
earth or under the water, eighteen inches deep, belong to the 
crown, and any coroner can claim them ; he can call a court and 
empanel a jury upon the occasion, if the amount is worth notice. 
In the year 1840, 1265 ounces of gold and silver coin were found 
in the River Ribble, and thus secured to the crown.| 



EPITAPHS. 

" Let us talk of graves, and worms, and epitaphs." — Shakspeare. 

" For the origin of these compositions we are referred to 
the scholars of liinus, who first bewailed their master, when 
he was slain, in doleful verses, then called of him (Elinum, 

* Gentleman's Magazine. 

t " Strictly speaking, the state would be entitled to the same privilege m 
this Union ; but it is presumed that it would never be enforced." — Law 
Dictionary. 



FUNERALS, TOMBS, ETC 253 

afterward Epitaphia ; for they were first sung at burials, and 
afterward engraved upon the sepulchre." 

" Praises on tombs are trifles vainly spent ; 
A man's good name is his best monument." 

1 have selected a few nierely to show the manners and feel- 
ings of the age. I have not chosen them from the rich and 
powerful. A great number of these are proverbially offensive ; 
they express, it is true, 

" Here lies the great ! False marble where 1 
Nothing but sordid dust lies here." Young. 

Shakspeare thus expresses himself in relation to false honours : 

*' Honours best thrive 

When rather from our acts we them derive, 
Than our fore-goers : the mere word's a slave, 
Debauch'd on every tomb, on every grave ; 
A lying trophy, and oft as dumb, 
Where dust and d — d oblivion is the tomb 
Of honour'd bones indeed." 

I would observe there was a very great change in them after 
the reformation. Numbers of them were not so chaste, not so 
spiritual, often more epigramatic, mere jeii-d^esprits — expres- 
sive of any quality, good or bad, of the ipaxiy ; neither in good 
taste nor with due reverential propriety. The bacchanalian 
epitaph in Great Woolford church, Warwickshire, would not 
have been admitted in an earlier period of church history. 

The following lines express the qualifications necessary to 
write an epitaph : 

" He that would write an epitaph on thee, 
And do it well, must first begin to be 
Such as thou wert ; for none can truly know 
Thy worth, thy life, but he that lived so." De. Donne. 

In the " Economy of Human Life " we are told that " to 
mourn without measure is folly ; not to mourn at all, shows 
insensibility." 

The Germans have a maxim, "It is honourable for the 
women to bewail the dead — the men to remember them." 

Verses on the tomb of Florens Caldwell, Esq., St- Martin's 
church, Ludgate, London, date 1590 : 

Earth goes to ^ /'As mould to mould. 

Earth treads on I -p , J Glittering in gold, 
Earth as to i i Return ne'er should. 

Earth shall he J K Goe where he would. 

Earth upon '^ /'Consider may. 

Earth goes to L "p th J ^^^^^^ away, 
Earth though on f ] Be stout and gay, 

Eavth shall from J V Passe poore away, 

22 



1254 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

" Be merciful and charitable, 
Relieve the poor as thou art able ; 
A shroud to thy grave 
Is all thou shall have !*' 

On an old monument in St. Ann and St. Agnes's church, 
London : 

Qu an tris di c vul stra 

OS guis ti ro um nere vit 

H san chris mi t mu U 

In this distich the last syllable of each word in the upper 
fine is the same as that of each corresponding word in the last 
line, and is to be found in the centre. It reads thus : 

Quos anguis tristi diro cum vulnere stravit 
Hos sanguis christi miro turn munere lavit 

Translated thus: 

Those who have felt the serpent's venom'd wound 
In Christ's miraculous blood hath healing found. 

On William Lawes, an eminent composer, who was killed in lattv& hy 

the Roundheads : 

Concord is conquer'd ! In this urn there lies 

The master of great music's mysteries ; 

And in it is a riddle like the cause, 

Will Lawes was slain by men whose Wills were Laws ! 



On Daniel Blackford, (lijAo diedin 1681,) i% Oxhill church, V^urwick hire . 

When I was young I ventured life and blood 
Both for my king and for my country's good ; 
In elder years my care was chief to be 
Soldier to Him who shed his blood for me ! 



ON CHILDREN. 



Beneath a sleeping infant lies, 
'Twas earth to ashes lent ; 

In time he shall more glorious rise, 
But not more innocent ! 



When the Archangel's trumpet sounds 

And souls to bodies join, 
Many would wish their lives below 

Had been as short as thine ! 



If babes, all innocence and truth, 
Possess bright virtue's charms. 

Why do we mourn departed youth 
Or shrink at death's alarms 1 



FUNERALS, TOMBS, ETC. 255 

Then, parents, stop the gushing tear, 

Nor pine at Heaven's decree — 
Your darling's safe beyond a fear, 

From guilt and sorrow free I 



In St. Giles'' s church, Shrewsbury. Initials only., J. W., 1685. 

Stir not nny bones, which are laid in clay, 
For I must rise at resurrection day.* 



In Brighihelinstone old church : 

The hour concealed, and so remote the fear, 
Deali still draws near*:/, never seeming near. 



A Bacchanalian Ejptinph in Great Woolford church, Warwickshire : 

Here old John Randall lies, 

Who, counting from his tale, 
Lived three score years and ten, 
Such virtue was in ale. 
Ale was his meat, 
Ale was his drink, 
Ale did his heart revive ; 
And if he could have drank his ale, 
He still had been alive ! 

He died January 5th, 1699. 

" This epitaph was placed there by order of Major Thomas 
l^eyt, a person well known for his good humour and hospi- 
tality, and generally beloved in the country."! 

In Friendsbury graveyard, near Chatham, 1700 ; 

Time was I stood as thou dost now, 
And view'd the dead as thou dost me ; 

'Ere long thou'lt lie as low as I, 
And others stand to look on thee ! 



From an old tomb-stone, Clonatin church, Ireland: 

Let all thy thoughts; thy words, and deeds 

Be such unto thy brother 
As thou would'st his should be to thee, 

And let them be none other. 

A paraphrase of the twelfth verse of the seventh chapter 
of St. Matthew. 

* This is very similar to what is on Shakspeare's. Our ancestors enter- 
tained great fear of being disturbed after death, which shows a very be- 
com-ing, pious, and amiable sentiment, expressing a strong hope in a resur- 
rection hereafter. 

t Dr. Thomas. 



256 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

On the tomb of the once beautiful Mary Vigors, 1703, in the cathedra,, oj 

Ferns, Ireland : 

Thou dust and clay, tell me, I say, 

Where is thy beauty tied] 
Was it in vain 1 or doth it gain 

The favour of the dead \ 



Death is a debt we all to nature owe, 
And not an evil — when not counted so ! 



At Dorking, in Surrey : 

Here lies the Carcass 
of Honest Charles Parkhurst 
who ne'er could dance or sing 

But always was true to 
His Sovereign Lord the King 
Charles 1st. 
Ob. Dec. XX. 1704, aged 86. 



In Wrexham churchyard, Denbighshire, is the folloioing on Elisha STale, 
who had been Governor of Madras. Died 1721 : 

Born in AMERICA, in Europe bred ; 

In Africa travell'd, and in Asia wed, 

Where long he lived and thrived ! — at London died ! 

The Society of Friends do not, I believe, ever place any 
memorials on their graves. Some years past there was a 
.Friend's funeral of some consequence at Warwick, vi^here but 
few of that persuasion resided, and, therefore, many other 
people attended to witness such a novelty. The body was 
merely deposited in the grave. Numbers expressed surprise 
that no more was said or done. It brought forth, from a Lucy 
Collins, the following very appropriate and well-expressed 
lines : 

On Silent Funerals. 

" When expectation anxious wishing / 

Eloquence of words to hear, 
Tlie solemn pause of awful silence 
Mortifies the itching ear. 

As such, perhaps, the Great dispenser 

Sees it best to deal with man, 
The depth of whose unerrmg counsel 

Human wisdom cannot sca-n. 

The striking scene of death before us, 

What caii more instructive plead ] 
Since 'tis a road we all must follow, 

'Tis a path that none evade. 



FUNERALS, TOMBS, ETC 257 

Though learned phrase and flowery language 

Please the proud, exalted part, 
Yet deeply searching home reflection 

Can alone amend the heart." 



DECORATING GRAVES WITH FLOWERS 

I COPY the following remarks from " The New Haven Pal- 
ladium." They are historically true, and beautifully expressed : 

«' There is a kind of pathos and touching tenderness of ex- 
pression in the sweet and fragrant emblems of affection, which 
language cannot reach, and which is calculated to perpetuate a 
kind of soothing sympathy between the living and the dead. 
They speak of cords of love too strong for even the grave to 
break asunder." 

*' This custom prevails in Scotland and North and South 
Wales. An epitaph there says : 

" ' The village maidens to her grave shall bring 
The fragrant garland each returning spring, 
Selected sweets, in emblem of the maid 
Who underneath this hallowed turf is laid.' " 

" In Wales children have snowdrops, primroses, hazel- 
blooms, and sallow blossoms on their graves ; persons of mature 
years have tansy, box, and rue. In South Wales no flowers 
are permitted to be planted on graves but those which are sweet 
scented : pinks, polyanthos, sweet-williams, gilliflowers, car- 
nations, mignionette, thyme, hyssop, chamomile, and rosemary 
are used. The red roses are appropriated to the graves of good 
and benevolent persons." 

How forcibly do these beautiful emblems speak to the rough- 
ness of human nature. No poet has more exquisitely expressed 
himself than Sir Walter Scott. The following lines are from 
" The Lady of the Lake ;" 

*• The rose is fairest when 'tis budding new, 

And hope is brightest when it's drawn from fear , 
The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew, 
And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears." 

And again : 

" Here eglantine embalmed the air, 
Hawthorn and hazel mingled there ; 
The primrose pale and violet flower 
Found in each cleft a narrow bo wee ; 
Fox-glove and nightshade side by si,de, 
Emblems of 'punishment and pride.''* 
22* 



il^B'T THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

" In Easter week (says the Palladium') most graves are 
newly dressed and manured with fresh earth. In Whitsuntide 
holydays they are again dressed, weeded, and, if necessary, 
replanted. No person ever breaks or disturbs flowers thus 
planted ; it is considered sacrilege." 

Leigh Hunt delicately observes : " Nature likes external 
beauty, and man likes it too ; it softens the heart, enriches the 
imagination, and helps to show that there are other goods in the 
world besides utility." 



CROSSES. 



" The cross was an emblem of the Egyptians, referring to a future state." 

Brixton. 

This same industrious writer, 

" Instructed by the antiquary times, 
He must, he is, he cannot but be wise," Shakspeark. 

informs us our tasteful, pious ancestors had erected, as well 
for ornament as for edification, " ten descriptions of crosses :" 
first, preaching crosses ; second, market crosses ; third, weep- 
ing crosses ; fourth, street crosses ; fifth, memorial crosses ; 
sixth, as landmarks ; seventh, sepulchral ; eighth, highway ; 
ninth, at entrance to churches ; tenth, for attestations of peace." 
When one considers the objects for which these were erected, 
the taste which they all more or less displayed, it must most 
assuredly be a proof of great depravity to destroy them, of want 
of judgment, and of want of feeling. 

" True piety shows itself in the love of divine things for 
their moral tendency." The market crosses were originally 
ouilt to put greedy man in mind that in his various dealings 
/le was still in the midst of the divine presence- 
There are a few of them now remaining. The one at Malmes- 
bury is very beautiful, but the one at Coventry was the most 
beautiful of them all : it stood fifty-seven feet high, very ele- 
gant, pyramidical, " fine by degrees, and beautifully less." 
This was suffered to go to decay by a corrupt electioneering 
corporation, and finally pulled down in 1771, to avoid the 
expense of repairing. See vol. 2, p. 186. 

There were fifteen crosses erected by King Edward I., in 

memory of his excellent wife, Queen Eleanor : only three of them 

are left ; one is triangular, one hexagonal, and one octagonal. 

Those factious men who decreed the destruction of crosses, 

were men who knew very little of the real devotional feelings 



THE FINE ARTS. 259. 

of their countrymen.* This symbol has been respected with 
a becoming veneration for twelve centuries. 

There is a cross cut into the chalk on the side of Whiteleaf 
Hill, in Buckinghamshire, daily appealing to the feelings of 
thousands of people within the distance from which it can be 
seen. The green sod is cut away 100 feet long, 50 feet broad 
at base, decreasing upward to 20 feet ; the transverse part is 
about 70 feet long and 12 feet broad ; the earth is cut into from 
two to three feet deep. Every few years there is a gathering 
of the people, who recut and clear these channels, and have a 
frolic. 

Dr. Blair, sermon 5, vol. i., states : " The cross was to shine 
on palaces and churches throughout the earth." 

There can be but few people in any country who have really 
a disrelish to these things. " That soul must be low and mean 
indeed which is insensible to all feelings of pride in the noble 
edifices of his country. Love of country, that variety of feel- 
ing which altogether constitute what we properly call patriot- 
ism^ consists, in part, of the admiration of, and veneration for, 
ancient and magnificent proofs of skill and opulence." — Cobbett. 



THE FINE ARTS. 

" These studies are as food to us in our youth ; they delight us in more 
advanced years ; they are ornaments to a prosperous state ; they afford us 
comfort and refuge in adversity ; they amuse us at home ; they are unembar- 
rassing to us when abroad ; they pass our nights with us ; they accompany us 
on our travels and in our retirement." — Cicero. 

To those who read poetry merely because it tickles the ear, 
who fancy pictures because they hide defects in their rooms, 
or who listen to a drawling tune because it passes away time, 
the fine arts are ill bestowed ; and, I fancy, nothing I can write 
will cause them to pay more attention to a subject that greatly 
distinguishes us in the paths of civilization. But while there 
are numbers that possess a discriminating relish for the works 
of genius and art, yet some among them do not sufficiently 
appreciate their utility in a national point of view. Quintillian 
has said : " Learned men comprehend the ground of the arts ; 
the unlearned partake in the pleasure only." Horace says: 
"An acute perception is understanding the arts." While I 
lament a want of proper opinion in the middle class of life, for 

* Boileau says : " The distance is twice as great jetween a f'evotee and a 
rue Christian, in my opinion, as between the Southern Pole and Davis's 
(traits." 



26*0 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

which many apologies may be offered, I cannot help expressing 
my indignation for others who, from their elevated stations, 
oi\ght to exert their utmost endeavours to encourage, instead 
oi' depressing, the talents of genius. 

To amass wealth is thought by many to be the height of all 
human attainments ; but this depends oftener on fortunate cir- 
cumstances than talents or abilities ; and if successful, if not 
properly applied, is always more a vice than a virtue. Indeed, 
the common occupations of life, although they may display a 
degree of honour and industry, seldom evince anything extra- 
ordinary in talent. Some of the professions that are considered 
by the generality of mankind to rank above that of mere trade, 
such as the clergyman and the apothecary, require nothing 
extraordinary in the mind to proceed through life with credit 
and respect : the physician and surgeon must rank but as 
secondary in the class of intellect, and, indeed, so must the 
study and acquirements of forensic knowledge, which requires 
much application and a good capacity, unless united to that 
uncommon eloquence with which an Erskine, a Romiiy, or a 
Curran adorn the dreary regions of the law. 

A first-rate work of art requires a display of talent and a 
toil of study as rare as that for which a judge or a commander 
receives thousands from the pockets of the public. To those 
who consider the fine arts in their least favourable point of view, 
will find they have changed advantageously the mode by which 
the powerful and opulent expended their superfluity. The 
chieftain who had armour and horses for a hundred comba- 
tants, whom he occasionally employed to make incursions into 
the territories of the helpless, or to swell the ranks of civil 
war, is now employed in building a palace, and adorning it 
with works of genius and art. 

Those who really look at their utility as displayed in the 

actions of mankind, will find, as Ovid had found before them, 

that 

" Learning, if deep, if useful, and refined, 
Comn:iunicates its polish to the mind ;" 

and thus softens and improves our rude, uncultivated nature. 
These will consider the poet to rank highest in the scale of 
intellect : next to him the painter and sculptor demand a 
similar ana exalted distinction, and which have received a like 
homage with hers from the respect and admiration of mankind, 
by being honoured with the title of sister to that glorious art.* 

* The writer of " The Last Days of Pompeii" says of the statuary : 

" Their looks with the reach of past ages were wise, 
And the soul of eternity thought in their eyes," 



THE FINE ARTS. 261 

Painting is not only capable of delighting the fancy, but of 
instructing the mind ; it is as poetry to the eye : an historical 
painting is the drama of a scene ; and the portrait of a friend or 
an eminent man is as a living epitome of his feelings, his fame, 
or his virtues. And next to the moral and personal beauty and 
dignity of man, there are no subjects more interesting to a 
cultivated taste than the representation of the symmetry and 
power of animals, because there is a grace and power of mus- 
cular action — a power in many respects superior to " the lords 
of the creation." Next comes the vivid landscape, (in the 
language of Bloomfield, '' the field was his study, nature his 
book,") which teaches man scientifically to estimate the scenes 
of nature, and, by such impressions, to acknowledge the power 
■which produced them ; they lead us to feel and appreciate the 
wisdom of an Almighty from a survey of his works. Respec- 
table as the talents of many individuals are that now receive 
the applause and homage of the admiring multitude, such 
talents history proves may be had in all ages. But such 
luminaries as a Shakspeare, a Milton, a West, a Titian, and a 
Raffaele are proved by biography to appear but now and then, 
like beautiful meteors, to enliven and delight mankind, and to 
adorn and instruct the ages in which they lived. 

To those, therefore, who do not properly appreciate the 
utility of such talents, let them be told that the works of a 
Titian, a Rafiaele, or a West demand and exhibit a variety of 
science, a knowledge of anatomy, of colours, light, and shade, 
of perspective, of history, of the various costumes, and customs, 
and the manners of nations ; and, what is above all, of the 
human heart. 

Many people little suspect how much of estimation they lose 
in unwary assertions on this subject, because they little con- 
sider the importance of a well-cultivated taste, simply as an 
innocent and delightful amusement to individuals ; thus some 
will cast an unintentional reflection on their Creator for blessing 
them with ears to receive and an imagination to delight in the 
" concord of sweet and harmonious sounds:" how few there 
are who know that tones, mere " tones, tell more than words ; 
folly is prone to babble, and passion to rave, craftiness to gloze, 
and affectation to mince or swell ; but true eloquence pours 
forth the living energies of the soul in the convincing language 
of sense and the moving tones of nature ;" in truth, there are 
in tones " thoughts that glow and words that burn." 

Others conceive the time thrown away that is occupied in 
composing an elegy or an ode. But let them be told that the 
arts are the liberal and enlightened means which equalize 
OL connect all ranks of society ; they humanize th*> ---~-— c 



262 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

while they refine the heart. Besides these important general 
effects, they invariably afford us individually a delightful source 
of amusement under all difficulties and situations^ insomuch so 
as to confer upon us another species of existence : they are a 
source of commercial improvement and w^ealth to nations ; they 
enlarge the boundaries of intellect, and, consequently, the 
physical boundaries of states ; and above all, as being, as Blair 
states, " favourable to many virtues." " To be entirely," says 
that popular vrriter, " devoid of relish for eloquence, poetry, or 
any of the fine arts, is justly considered to be an unpromising 
symptom of youth, and raises suspicion of their being prone to 
low gratifications." 

Let us, therefore, do honour to those mighty geniuses and 
beneficent beings who occupy their time and talents for us ; 
who write for us, or who enrich us by their discoveries : let 
us do them that justice their merits have a right to expect 
while they are living ; and while their wives, their children, 
or their friends may be occupied by the melancholy care of 
closing their eyes, let us at least pay to their ashes a tribute 
;of recollection for the pleasure and benefits they have procured 
us. Let us sprinkle with our tears the urns of Socrates, of 
Alfred, and Washington. Let us strew flowers over the tombs 
of a Justinian, of a Bacon, of a Locke ; and let us revere the 
immortal shades of those happy geniuses whose songs and sen- 
timents yet excite in our hearts the most tender sentiments.* 

" Compassion proper to mankind appears, 
Which nature witness'd when she gave us tears." Juvenal. 

This excellent essay appears to me proper to introduce the 
following remarks on 

PAINTING AND SCULPTURE. 

" Possessing more than vocal power, 
Possessing more tlian poet's tongue." Campbell, 

" That love of art which was so violently suppressed at 
the reformation, was scarcely revived before the time of Charles 
L, 1625." Of this unfortunate monarch it has been said, " The 
art of reigning was the only art of which he was ignorant." 
The amusements of his court were a model of excellence to 
all Europe, and his cabinets were the choice receptacles of 
what was exquisite in painting and sculpture ; i^v^ne but men 
of first-rate merit found encouragement from hin> Jones was 

* I copy this from my common-place book for the year 1813. 



THE FINE ARTS. 263 

nis architect, Vandyke his painter, and Dr. Child his musician. 
Indeed he patronised any or all that were 

" Well seene in everie science that mote be, 
And everie secrete worke of nature's wayes ; 
In wittie riddles, and in wise soothesayes — 
In power of herbes, and tymes of beastes and burdes." 

Spencek. 

This was also the period of the Earl of Arundel, who has 
the honour of being called the father of " virtu^^ in England 
An anonymous French writer has well observed : "It is not 
to the most powerful monarchs, nor to the i]i0st opulent princes, 
nor to the chief rulers of a nation, that most states owe their 
splendour, force, and glory ;" though they may do much, and 
the Earl of Arundel was one of those who had lent his pow- 
erful assistance. In England more particularly, " it is private 
persons who have made the most astonishing improvements in 
the arts and sciences, and even in the art of government. Who 
measured the earth ^ Who discovered the systems of the 
heavens ? Who invented those curious manufactories with 
which w^e are clothed.? Who has laid open the secrets of 
natural history ? Who has explored the intricacies of che- 
mistry, anatomy, and botany ? Certainly private persons, 
who, in the eye of a wise man, must eclipse the pretenders to 
greatness, those proud dwarfs who too often cherish nothing 
but their own vanity. In effect, it is not kings, ministers, per- 
sons invested with authority that govern the world." This 
"mportant point could never be perceived by this unfortunate 
monarch, so his life paid the forfeit of his misgovernment. The 
noble Arundel, who was also " a noble of nature," began his 
collection about 1615. Alas! he lived to see them dispersed 
by the agency of ignorant political fanatics. " But what so 
pure that wicked wits will spare ;" nothing was safe or sacred 
in such a state of things. 

•' Those polish'd arts which humanize the mind, 
Soften the manners and refine mankind." 

So thought and sung an ancient classic poet, but not so the 
modern excited rebel. 

The palace of Whitehall contained a collection of 460 pic- 
tures ; twenty-eight by Titian, eleven by Corregio, sixteen by 
Julio Romano, nine by Raffaele, four by Guido, and seven by 
Parmegiano. So highly did Charles appreciate these treasures, 
that he preferred holding the great court fetes in temporary 
buildings, to the risk of injuring his pictures by lighting up the 
apartments in which they were hung. 



^G4 THE SOCIAL HlSTORl OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

Rubens arrived in England in 1630 as an ambassador , but he 
was induced to use his irresistible pencil, of" whom it has been 
said, " he seemed to have been sent by heaven to teach man- 
kind painting " 

He painted the ceiling of the banqueting house, Whitehall, 
for which he received ^3000 ; and among many other splendid 
specimens of his great abilities are the cartoons of Raffaele : 
they were acquired in Flanders through his means. 



TAPESTRY. 

Painting on walls was general during the middle ages', 
which afterward gave place to tapestry. The most ancient 
tapestry is in the church at Ba^^eaux, in Normandy. Lord 
Arundel bequeathed the tapestry hangings of his hall in 1392, 
which had been made in London. Probably the art was lost, 
and reintroduced by William Sheldon, Esq.* 

About 1677 France established the famous Gobelins tapes- 
try, which supplied all Europe. In England it was attempted, 
but with very limited success. William Sheldon, Esq., of 
Weston, Warwickshire, warmly patronised it. A curious set 
of maps were woven under his direction, which covered two 
sides of a large room. This tapestry, nearly eighty feet square, 
when the furniture was sold at Weston in 1781, was purchased 
oy Mr. Horace Walpole, who presented it to the Earl of Har- 
court, and it is now carefully preserved at Nuneham, Courte- 

nay. The change in religion, and the desecration which 

she had undergone, left her without a school of design capable 
of such undertakings. 

De Piles informs us that " Bernard Van Orley, of Brus- 
sels, Michaelis Coxis, of Mechlin, and other Flemish pupils of 
Raffaele, were commissioned by him or Pope Leo X., on their 
return to Flanders, to superintend the working of the tapes- 
tries." '' All these astonishing historical works of art, for the 
most part of worsted, have, down to the present day, preserved 
a most surprising force of tone and power of effect, except in 
those parts or colours of carnations which, being of silk^ are 
now faded. But, notwithstanding these changes, they must 
still be allowed to form one of the most brilliant monuments 
of Raffaele genius." — Parthenon. 

Tapestry, or arras-work, was not only an ornamental embel- 
lishment in great houses, but served as screens and sly hiding 
places. Thus a character in the " Woman Hater " says : 

* Brown's " Principles of Practical Perspective." 



THE FINE ARTS. 



tr: " Farewell my countrymen all, with whom 

f Of you I have made many a scrambling meal 

In corners behind arrases, and on stairs." 

' " Tapestry was made at Mortlake, in Surry, by Sir Francis 
fcrane, which began under James I., and was patronised by 
his unfortunate son, Charles. Francis Cleyn, a painter of 
considerable reputation in the service of the King of Denmark, 
recommended by Sir Henry Wotton, was employed in the 
manufactory, and gave designs in both history and grotesque. 
The civil wars ruined this concern." 

" In 1720 A. M. Pariport made a considerable attempt to 
compete with the celebrated Gobelins at Paris, and commenced 
an extensive manufactory at Fulham, in Surry, in which he 
was nobly encouraged by the then Duke of Cumberland, who 
assisted him with a gift of ^£6000 ; but this soon failed, and in 
1759 a set of designs for tapestry, painted by Zuccharelli, and 
executed by Paul Saunders for the Earl of Egremont, for a 
house built in Piccadilly, were the last made in this country."* 

Vandyke's labours lay, for the most part, in portraits, which 
have descended down as heir looms, exhibiting the noblest and 
fairest of the age now living on canvass, and adding a brilliant 
and historical reminiscient to the other ornaments of the English 
baronial hall. His habits are the costumes of the times. ^ 

Sir Peter Lely succeeded him, who was considered the ladies' 
painter, and whose lovely features 

On animated canvass stole 



The sleepy eye that spoke the melting soul." 

He o-reatly exceeded Vandyke in delicacy and softness of flesh. 

Kino- Charles, in the eleventh year of his reign, planned an 
academv of design ; but troubles thickening upon him, he was 
obliged "to abandon it. Indeed, with the political horizon then 
so overcast, of what use would it have been } 

The whole number of English born painters and engravers 
for the seventeenth century are only about twenty, as many as 
could be expected amid such strange and sudden changes ; but 
they were men of talent, and their works of high repute. 

George Vertue was an artist of great talent and unwearied 
industry, not more distinguished by his works as an engraver 
than by his researches as an antiquary. He zealously devoted 
himself to the occupation of rescuing from obscurity not only 
the objests which merited illustration through the medium of 
the graver, but the facts and records which relate to the history 
of the arts in his native country from the earliest period to his 

* Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal. 
23 



266 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

time. The labours of a life thus employed furnished the ore 
which, refined and moulded by Horace Walpole, shines forth in 
the " Anecdotes of Painting," a work of which the intrinsic 
value is in no degree deteriorated by the brilliancy with which 
it is invested. The laborious perseverance of the collector 
and the dazzling wit of the editor could scarcely, perhaps, have 
emanated from one mind : their union has produced a work 
unrivalled for the combination of instruction and entertainment. 



SCULPTURE. 

" Then sculpture and her sister arts revive, 
Stones leap'd to form and rocks began to live." Pope. 

Not quite so fast, thou " little Nightingale of Twickenham ;" 
the leaping part, for a time, was downward instead of upward, 
for in 1643 the mistaken mischief-makers were pulling down 
the crosses. 

Indeed of sculpture little can be said ; there was no memorial 
left at the time by the artist to designate his own work, so 
that what little was done is matter of doubt to whom the merit 
belongs. Nicholas Stone was the one most in repute : he was 
employed at the banqueting house. Several foreign artists 
came, and met with employment. 

In 1633 Herbert le Soeur executed the bronze {§tatue of 
Charles, at Charing Cross, which, excellent as it is, was ordered 
to be broken up by the parliament. Oh ! wondrous " omni' 
potence of parliament ^^'^ how curious and how interesting it is 
to chronicle the failure of this infamous profane order.* The 
parliamentary brazier had strict orders to break it up ; instead 
of doing so, he cunningly contrived to conceal it till the restora- 
tion, when it was replaced, in 1678. In the meantime he was 
reaping a handsome profit from the sale of toys which he pre- 
tended were made from the metal. This man's name was 
Rivet ; and. Mobile the relic-hunters' attention was riveted to 
theii object of possessing some memorial of their martjrred 
monarch, he very cunningly took good care to clinch them, and 
to keep the original safe for another sale, when the opportunity 
(which soon occurred) presented itself of the royal party 
coming into power. See vol. 2, p. 161. 

There was a statue of Queen Anne put up in St. Paul's 
church^'ard, which now remams. It is thus spoken of: " In 

* I believe it was Do. Lolme who said, " The English parliament can do 
anything but make raau woman or woman man ;" but the history of this 
Union shows it could not make this nation long tributary to it. 



THE FINE ARTS. 267 

1712 Francis Bird had £250 for the queen's statue and enrich- 
ments. The best part of this figure is the regal mantle ; though 
it is not easy to say which is the worst. The four statues seated 
on the pedestal, of England, France, Ireland, and America, were 
£220 each, and the white marble shield of arms, £50. Tnis 
ill-contrived and tasteless group cost in all £1180. The wits 
of the day were very severe upon it, and on the manner m 
which the queen is placed, with her back to the church and her 
face to the brandy shop."* 

" It has been twice attacked by lunatics, first in 1743, when 
the man broke off the sceptre, and otherwise damaged the statue • 
and again in 1769, by a Lascar, who, when apprehended, at- 
tempted to stab the watchman. On the latter occasion botfl 
the arms, with the globe and sceptre, were broken off, anc 
all the other figures had some damage done to them. The Las- 
car had the globe in his hand when he was passing over the 
iron railing, ""j* 



COINS. 



Charles I. established a mint at Aberystwith Castle, in 
Wales, to coin silver extracted from the lead mines in that 
neighbourhood, which then yielded about lOOlbs. of silver per 
week, which afterward was of considerable service to him in 
his short war against the parliament. In his reign was intro- 
duced, by Nicholas Briot, a Frenchman, the process of fabri- 
cating coins by machinery, instead of the simple hammerino-. 
He was employed from about 1628 to 1633, and was constituted 
chief engraver of coins in the Tower mint : while he presided, 
the coins were then considered the most beautiful ever known. 
" One of his gold coins," says Leake, " was admirably well 
done, bare-headed, and the love-lock, as it was called, hanging 
before, which was so disagreeable to the Roundheads (so 
called from the contrary extreme) that Prynne wrote a book 
against it, called ' The Unloveliness of Love-locks,' 1630. 
After the civil war had commenced and the parliament had 
seized the Tower, Charles set up mints at Shrewsbury, Oxford, 
York, and other places. Most of the money coined at these 
places has the mint mark of the Prince of Wales' feathers, as 
being struck by the workmen and instruments belonging to the 
mint at Aberystwith. The greater part of it appears also to 
have been made in the old-fashioned way, with the hammer. 
The unhappy state of his affairs may be traced by this monsY, 

* Malcolm's London. t Gentleman's Magazine. 



268 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

wliich grew worse and worse, till at last, as far as ingenuity- 
appears, they hardly deserve the name of a coin — seeming 
rather the work of a common smith than a graver, and manifest 
their being coined in a hurry." Besides money of the com- 
mon species, various other coins or tokens, which have been 
called obsidional or siege pieces, were issued by the royalists 
during the civil war. Among these were the stamped pieces, 
stamped at Newark in 1643 and 1646, which are in the shape 
of a lozenge, (like the ace of diamonds :) those stamped at the 
siege of Carlisle, 1645, are octangular : the Pontefract pieces 
are some round, some lozenge, and some octangular shaped ; 
others, such as Scarborough, Colchester, and Beeston Castle 
pieces, consist merely of bits of silver plate, about an inch and 
a half long, with a rude representation of a castle, supposed 
10 be that of Scarborough. 

In the beginning of the quarrel with King Charles I. the 
parliament (having the Tower mint in their possession) coined 
both gold and silver money, bearing the usual impressions, and 
only distinguished from that issued by the king by their having 
the letter P (for parliament) stamped upon them as a mint mark. 
They afterward coined gold and silver pieces of the usual 
^nominations, some of them having on the obverse an antique 
ErhJeld, with St. George's cross, encircled with a palm and 
a laurel branch, and circumscribed the commonwealth op 
ENSLAND ; on the reverse, two antique shields conjoined, the 
first with St. George's cross, the other with a harp, circum- 
scribed GOD vfiTH us. Most of this was hammered money; 
but one milled half crown, dated 1650, which is the earliest 
English completely milled silver coinage, (the milled money 
of Elizabeth and Charles I. being only marked upon the flat 
edge,) has inscribed upon the rim, in the third year op 

FREEDOM, BY GOD's BLESSING RESTORED ; another haS TRUTH 

AND PEACE, 1651. Peter Blondaoeus, inventor fecit. These 

appear to have been rival productions — the former by the regular 

moneyers of the Tower, the latter by the Frenchman, Peter 

Blondaoeus, who came over and offered his services to the 

committee of the council of state in 1649, but never was 

employed farther than to give this specimen of his skill, 

although he appears to have remained in the country about 

three years, and was probably not well used b}^ the government. 

The earliest money bearing the effigj" of Cromwell has the 

date 1656, though it was not till the following year he took 

upon himself the authority, in conformity with '' the petition 

and advice," of being Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and 

land. " They are," says Leake, " by Symonds, (or Simonds,) 

masterly hand, exceeding anything done since the Romans ; 



THE FINE ARTS. 26^ 

and in like manner he appears thereon, his bust Csesar-like, 
laureate, looking to the right, with whiskers, and a small tuft; 
upon the under lip." The circumscription around the head 
of the protector is, Olivar D. G. R. P. ANG. SCO. HIB., &c., 
jPRO. On the reverse, under a royal crown, is a shield, 
bearing in the first and fourth quarters St. George's cross ; 
in the second quarter, St. Andrew's cross ; and, in the third, " 
harp, with the protector's paternal arms, viz., a lion ramparj 
on an escutcheon in the centre ; the circumscription is, PAX 
QUAERITUR. BELLO., with the date 1656, (or 1658.) 

The coins of Scotland and Ireland in the time of the common- 
wealth were the same as those of England. At the resto- 
ration of Charles II. this money was all called in. 

Under Cromwell, while the arts in general met with such 
poor and uncertain patronage, it could scarcely be expected the 
coins would be better than usual This was not only the case, 
but they were the most exquisite and beautiful ever in any age 
produced. 

The coin called guinea was first struck in 1662. Its cur- 
rent value was 21*. It had no graining on the rim. It was so 
called from being made of gold brought from the coast of Guinea 
by the African company, who, as an encouragement to them to 
bring over gold to be coined, were permitted by their charter 
to have their stamp of an elephant impressed, under the head 
of the king, upon whatever piece should be struck from the 
metal they imported. 

On all the English money of Charles II. coined after 1662, 
his head is made to look to the left, being the opposite direc- 
tion to that in which his father's head is placed ; and ever since 
it has been observed as a rule, to make two successive sovereigns 
look in opposite ways on their respective coinages. 

In the first coinage of Charles II. the pieces were formed by 
the ancient method of hammering ; the ministers who had been 
employed in coining Cromwell's milled money having, it is 
supposed, withdrawn or concealed themselves (1660) in appre- 
hension of punishment, and probably also carried their machi- 
nery away with them. Milled money, however, was again 
coined in 1662, and of a superior sort to any that had as yet 
been produced ; having graining or letters upon the rim, an im- 
provement which had not appeared upon the milled money 
either of Queen Elizabeth or of Charles I. 

Private half pence and farthings of copper and brass, such 
as were formerly common, had again come into use in the time 
of the commonwealth ; and they continued to circulate after 
the restoration, fill they were supplanted by an issue of the 
same description from the royal mint in 1672. In 1684 Charles 

23* 



270 ItiJE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIW. 

coined farthings of tin, with only a small quantity of copper in 
the centre. The figure (still retained) of Britannia sitting on 
a globe, holding in her right hand an olive branch and in her 
left a spear and shield, first appears on the copper coinage of 
this reign, having been modelled, it is said, after the celebrated 
court beauty, Miss Stewart, afterward Duchess of Richmond. 
The coinage of Queen Anne was the work of Croker, an 
English medallist, second only to Simonds : in this depart- 
ment at least native artists have done honour to the country. 
Croker also executed a series of medals on the glorious events 
of that queen's reign. Of his coins the celebrated farthings 
are well known and of great scarcity, yet at this time of no 
more intrinsic value than the amount they pass for current : 
some of them were executed as pattern pieces, and but few 
issued : no doubt the whole of them are now safely lodged in 
the cabinets of the curious. 



WOOD CARVING. 

At this period wood-cutting shone forth in bold and beauti- 
ful rehef. Grinling Gibbons is decidedly the most surprising 
artist, as his carvings, numerous and elaborate as they are, pro- 
claim to this day. His delineations of foliage and flowers have 
never been equalled in England, and probabl}'' never surpassed 
by any foreign artist. The stalls in St. Paul's cathedral are by 
him, which, as a large mass, excite the admiration of foreign- 
ers. There are a few more splendid specimens of pulpits and 
sounding boards over them, and some screens, by him, in which 
the stems of the flowers are so delicately cut as, 

" Like sister flowers of one sweet shade, 
With the same breeze they bend." 

Sir Robert Walpole, speaking of the altar-piece of St. Mary's 
Abchurch, says " there is no instance before him of any other 
artist who gave to wood the airy lightness of flowers." These 
carvings were originally painted by Sir James Thornhill, after 
nature : they are at this time as fresh and beautiful as ever, 
though they have been cut more than a century. They are, in 
common with the rest of the screen, by him and some of his 
equally talented pupils, of the colour of oak. 

There are many specimens of Gibbons's unrivalled chisel in 
wood at Windsor Castle, Burleigh House, and Chatsworth. He 
also cut the marble statue of Charles II., that used to occupy 
the centre of the late Royal Exchange. 



THE FINE ARTS. 271 

The art of etching commenced about the time of Albert 
Durer, an artist of universal talent. There is an etching of 
Christ praying on the mount, of the date of 1515, and a land- 
scape by Durer, 1518. 

The art of mezzotinto^ in which the English have greatly 
excelled, commenced about 1643. In the British museum 
there is a mezzotinfo portrait of the Princess Amelia Ehzabeth 
of that date, by Louis Count Von Siegen. 

Aquatinta was invented by a German named Le Prince, born 
at Mentz in 1723. This style is capable of the greatest beauties, 
as the plates in the '^ Hunchback," by W. Daniel, and also by 
others, will testify. 

Francis Vivans was the father of English landscape en- 
graving. 

One of the earliest books v/ith copper-plates was Sir John 
Harrington's translation of '^ Orlando's Furioso," in 1690. 

I cannot pass over this interesting subject without availing 
myself of a beautiful passage from " The Parthenon." It will be 
a sort of preface to the orders issued by the vandal parliament. 

"Religious worship," says this sprightly writer, "seems 
everywhere to have furnished the first impulse to the arts of 
sculpture and painting, as heroic deeds and warlike achievements 
appear to have done to poetry ; was likewise the source of their 
revival in Europe. The tangible form of sculpture, which has 
always been of earlier growth than painting, while it reduced 
the mysteries of religion to a distinct and permanent idea, at the 
same time flattered the vanity of men by likening to themselves 
the objects of their adoration. But when the treasures of the 
palette began to extend the narrow limits of bare design, when 
the eye was seen beaming with liquid lustre, the lips to be 
tinged with the crimson of nature, and the hair to descend in 
glossy ringlets from the brow, it is easy to conceive how 
much admiration of the newly discovered art must have 
increased attachment to the objects of its representation. The 
ministers of religion have never been slow to perceive the 
advantages which might arise from this combination of feelings, 
and have never failed to avail themselves of it whenever they 
have possessed the power. In process of time the arts which 
at first were devoted to the worship of the gods, came also 
to be employed in celebrating the actions of men, and found 
their encouragement in the policy of states or the luxury of 
individuals. It is manifestly to these principles, and not to the 
influence of climate or the spirit of liberty, as Winkelman 
absurdly maintains, that the establishment of the fine arts in 
any country is to be attributed. The fact is, the success of the 
fine arts will always keep pace with their encouragement j and 



i^^ THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF OREAT BRITAIN. 

it is equally certain that their encouragement depends more 
on circumstances of a fortuitous nature than on fixed principle 
of local or political influences. Public wealth and a taste for 
luxury are the only indispensable conditions in the advancement 
of the arts ; and these may exist in a state of political slavery 
as well as of political wisdom. It may be true that a system 
of encouragement of the fine arts, founded not on the whim of a 
prince or the fashion of a court, but on the sound, moral, and 
political principles of a free and enlightened people, would 
prove to be the most effective as well as the most permanent. 
But the page of history furnishes us with no example of so 
desirable a consummation. Possibly in future ages, when the 
narrow prejudices which still oppose improvement shall have 
passed away, such a system may prevail. The historian who 
shall have to record so brilliant an epoch in the history of 
human civilization, may then look back to trace the fitful 
glimmerings of former arts, and grieve to find how imperfectly 
its true value was understood even at those periods which 
presented examples of the nearest approach toward rational 
freedom." 

In the year 1645 came forth the following orders from the 
parliament : 

Ordered^ That all such pictures and statues there (at White- 
hall) as are without any superstition, shall be forthwith sold 
for the benefit of Ireland and the north. 

Ordered^ That all such pictures there as have the represen- 
tation of the second person in the Trinity upon them, shall 
be forthwith burnt. 

Ordered, That all such pictures there as have the representa- 
tion of the Virgin Mary upon them, shall be forthwith burnt. 

Well might Charles himself, a few weeks before his death, 
write, 

" The corner-stone's misplaced by every paviour. 
With such a bloody method and behaviour 
Their ancestors did crucifie our Saviour." 

The parliamentary leaders adopted this scheme from the 
same infamous motives that actuated a similar set at the time 
of" the wife-killer," viz., to get a chance of embezzling them 
and adding them to their own collections. Lambert was an 
artist. Fairfax was an enthusiast and an antiquarian. Crom- 
well* secured the cartoons for the price of £300 ; yet many 

* The Edinborough Review states that this extraordinary man told Lely 
to " paint me as I am ; if you leave out the scars and wrinkles, I will not 
pay you a shilling." Even in such trifles the protector showed both his good 
sense and magnanimity. He did not wish all that was characteristic in his 
countenance to be lost in the vain attempt to give him the regular features 



THE FINE ARTS. 273 

pictures were lost to the country, and now embellish some 
of the foreign galleries. 

These misguided men could not make a change in politics 
without venting their inglorious spite upon these choice works 
of art. What could burning of pictures have to do with any 
necessary alteration that was to he made in restraining, within 
due bounds J the kingly prerogative ? This, and other questions 
might be asked, but will never be answered, because no satis- 
factory answer can be given. 

However, in the language of Shelley, 

-I thank thee. Thou hast given 



A boon which I will not resign, and taught 
A lesson not to be unlearned. I know 
The past, and thence I will essay to glean 
A warning for the future, so that man 
May profit by his errors, and derive 
Experience from his folly." 

" lliere is no part of history so generally useful as that 
which relates to the progress of the human mind, the gradual 
improvement of reason, the successive advances of science, the 
vicissitudes of learning and ignorance, which are the lights and 
darkness of thinking beings, the extinctions and resuscitations 
of the arts, and the revolutions of the intellectual world. If 
accounts of battles and invasions are peculiarly the business of 
princes, the useful or elegant arts are not to be neglected: 
those who have states to govern have also understandings 
to cultivate."* "^ 

There are, unfortunately, some few in every society who 
cannot or do not understand the moral and the beauty of the 
symbolic arts. These deserve our warmest pity. On this 
subject I beg leave to present them with a few extracts from 
Digby's " Mores Catholici,'' of which " every line is a lesson, 
every page a history." 

" Man must have pleasure ; if he find it not in the house of 
God, he will seek it in the false joys of the world." 

" The artists in mosaics and paintings knew the necessity of 
making art symbolic rather than imitative ; that proves the 
inconsistency of the moderns, who would admire and preserve 
the monument of Catholic genius, but destroy the idea which 
produced it." 

and smooth, blooming cheeks of James I. He was content that his face 
should go forth marked with all the blemishes that had been put on by time, 
by war, by sleepless nights, by anxiety, and perhaps by remorse ; but with 
valour, policy, authority, and public cares written in all its princely lines and 
natural hues. If men truly great knew their own interests, it is thus that 
they virouM wish their minds to be portrayed. 

* Johnson. 



274 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

" The objectors to paintings and images may as well object 
to God for having made the lights of Heaven so resplendent 
and the herbs so beautiful and odoriferous." 

" The Creator sees man in making beautiful things to adore 
him with, only imitating his own works." 

" The first essential qualification for understanding symbolic 
language is a revering spirit." 

" From things insensible alone ye learn 
That which, digested rightly, after turns 
To intellectual." Dante. 

" What is mysticism must be mystically reviewed. Religion, 
love, nature, state — everything in the church is full of divine 
signification and mystery. The divine ofiices correspond to that 
sentiment of beauty under the religious feelings which, in the 
unity of our life of perception, divides itself into the epic of inspi- 
ration, the dramatic of resignation, and the lyric of devotion." 

Thus says another elegant writer ; " The ancient artists 
were attentive to emblems and attributes, and whatever could 
mark or identify their subject."* But the men, or rather the 
unimaginative monsters of that day, were bent on destruction, 
and, therefore, resolved, 

-With fire, sword, and desolation, 



To make a thorough godly reformation ;" Hudibras. 

and thus " were things destroyed — were hurled to things 
unborn." 

In their blind rage for destruction, they overlooked the 
common principles of this delightful art. Hear what a modern 
writer advises his pupil : 

" He who from nature takes a view, 
Must copy and improve it too ; 
He ne'er will as an artist shine. 

Who copies nature line by line." Dr. Syntax. 

A painting or statue must be something more than mere 
outline, to call up the passions of the human heart. It is, 
therefore, the part of genius to add those embellishments which 
are calculated to raise the noblest emotions of the soul. 

As " experience is a great teacher, it is a professor that 
neither reasons nor debates, but carries such conviction and 
proof that no one but an imbecile or a madman disputes." " Oh, 
ye of little faith," go to Thebes, a city built four thousand years 
past, and " there learn by time, travel, and study." You will 
find a piece of sculpture representing a judge, with a picture on 

* Forsyth. 



THE FINE ARTS. 276 

his breast exhibiting truth with her eyes shut, and himself 
surrounded with books. Or reflect on Albeit Durer's cele*- 
brated design of melancholy personified : this inimitable picture, 
by '' a genius of universal talent and the Homer of his art," 
shows a sad ivoman leaning on her arm, with fixed looks and 
neglected habit, surrounded by the instruments of science, 
and occupied with their problems. Or go and search for 
Holbein's " Dance of Death," which exhibits a pungent satire 
on human vanities. After these peregrinations, surely no one 
would entertain the abominable thought of destroying the most 
inimitable works of art merely because they may appear 
mystical or allegorical. 

" Let them go down the stream of time's historic page, 
From clime to clime — record from age to age." Campbell. 



DECORAIIVE HOUSE PAINTERS. 

Among the decorative painters of ceilings, halls, and stair- 
cases may be mentioned Louis Laguerre, a native of Paris, who 
came to England in 1683. His works still remain at Hampton 
Court, Burleigh, Blenheim, and a few other places. The saloon 
at Blenheim is his best performance : the compartments repre- 
sent the costume of various nations, and the ceiling a vast 
allegory. This artist was, in the first instance, chosen to paint 
the cupola of St. Paul's cathedral, for which designs were also 
offered by Antonio Pellegrini, who painted the stair-case and 
ceilings at Castle Howard with Marco Ricii, another artist of 
reputation in the same class. 

The claim was preferred to a native painter, Sir James 
Thornhill, though his rank is rather that of a clever painter 
than an artist of genius. He stands alone among his compa- 
triots as a successful follower of the Italian and French styles 
of decoration, and in the invention, readiness, and freedom 
of pencil requisite for distributing numerous groups over large 
surfaces, while in every qualification of an artist he is at least 
equal to any of his cotemporaries. It is to be lamented that 
Thornhill never visited Italy, but was content to form his taste 
upon the French school. There is much grandeur in the com- 
position of the history of the apostle in the dome of St. Paul ; 
but as there is an architectural defect in the frame-work, with all 
the merit, it is a defect upon the general aspect of the building. 

Many of his works have perished in the changes of the 
fashion. Among the best of those remaining are the halls at 
Greenwich hospital, and some at Blenheim, which display 



f76 THE SOCIAL HISTORy .PI", GHEAT BRITAIN. 

many beauties of his own and all the defects of his age, which 
his talents were not able to surmount. Although he was much 
employed, he felt severely the unjust predilection for foreigners, 
which has ever been the bane of English art ; and, while Lafosse 
had received thousands for his paintings at Montague House, 
Thornhill was forced to submit to be paid for his public 
work by the square yard : however, he enriched himself very 
honourably by his works, repurchased the estate of his ancient 
family, was chosen member of parliament for Weymouth, and 
died, universally esteemed as an artist and a man, in 1734. After 
his death this branch of painting went out of fashion. The 
valuable copies of the cartoons of RafFaele, now the property 
of the Royal Academy, were painted by him. 

The close of the century brought forth one of the greatest 

feni.uses in the art of design the world ever saw — William 
[ogarth. He, like the apostle of old, taught ethics with 
the engraver; with that simple tool, forcibly, but coarsely, 
directed by his inspired hand, he humorously portrayed the 
maxim, " Castigat Ridendo MoreSy''^* with the most irresisti- 
ble effect. 

His early humble efforts were displayed, or rather employed, 
(for he was only a copier,) in engraving family arms upon sil- 
ver and gold plate ; but the astonishing powers which nature 
gave him as a writer, engraver, and painter, soon began to 
develope themselves. He furnished plates for the booksellers, 
among which his illustrations of Hudibras, the greatest poeti- 
cal satire of that or any other period, would alone have im- 
mortalized him. Here the very gods of mirth and satire might 
make a bow of devotion, and Silenus himself would smile 
with contempt at his own feeble powers. That volume, thus 
illustrated, combining at once the united powers of two such 
superlative geniuses, ought to have driven melancholy away 
from the face of the earth. No artist's works have afforded 
so much delight as his : the criticisms, essays, and descriptions 
of them are very numerous ; and the following couplet, by 
Whitehead, are trite and expressive of his industry, and the 
genii over whom it was exercised : 

" Load, load the pallet, boy ! Hark ! Hogarth cries, 

* Fast as I paint, fresh swarms of fools arise.' " 

The following just and eloquent character of this great man 
is from the pen of his biographer, Mr. Allan Cuningham : 
" His character as an artist is to be gathered from numerous 
works at once original and unrivalled. His skill as an engraver 
spread his fame as a painter ; and all who love the dramatic 

* The manners of the age are corrected by ridicule. 



TH£ FINE ARTS. 277 



lepresentation of actual life — all who have hearts to be glad- 
dened by humour — all who are pleased with judicious and well- 
directed satire — all who are charmed with the ludicrous looks 
of popular folly, and all who can be moved with the pathos 
of human suffering, are admirers of Hogarth. That his works 
are unlike those of other men is his merit, and not his fault. 
He belonged to no school of art ; he was the produce of no 
academy ; no man, living or dead, had any share in forming his 
mind or in rendering his hand skilful. He was the sponta- 
neous offspring of the graphic spirit of his country, as native 
to the heart of England as its independence ; and he may be 
fairly called, in his own walk, the first-born of her spirit. He 
painted life as he saw it. He gave no visions of bygone 
things — no splendid images of ancient manners : he regarded 
neither the historian's page nor the poet's song : he was con- 
tented with the occurrences of the passing day, with the folly 
or sin of the hour ; but to the garb or fashion of the moment 
he adds story and sentiment for all time." 

In No. 555 of the " Spectator " there is mentioned an aca- 
demy of design of painting in 1712, with Sir Godfrey Kneller 
president : it soon fell into decay. The Royal Academy had 
their charter 1765 : that soon broke up. In 1768 the present 
one was formed, which was about the last in Europe. The 
Edinborough Royal Academy was established 1754. One has 
recently been established in Dublin. 



MUSIC. 



-The birds instructed man, 



And taught him songs before the art began ; 

And while soft evening gales blew o'er the plains, 

And shook the sounding reeds, they taught the swains, 

And thus the pipe was formed and tuneful reed." Lucretius. 

" Music is a kind of language," says Metastasio, " and as 
such it possesses that advantage over poetry which a univer- 
sal language has over a particular one ; for this last speaks only 
to its own age or country, the other speaks to all ages and 
all countries." I think it will be universally admitted that a 
musical sound, when produced by a fine voice, a rich-toned 
violin, or a mellow horn, excites pleasing sensations. Ay, 
so powerful are the efiecls of harmony and melody, that it is 
said " a song may reach those whom a sermon flies." 

It is stated by all writers down to the present time, that 
" the singing of madrigals was, in the time of Elizabeth, the 

24 



278 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

ordinary social amusement of the better classes after dinner 
and supper ; and in the cultivation of music we aie behind 
that period." 

For the information of those of my readers who may not be 
musicians, perhaps it will be proper to inform them that a 
madrigal is defined to be " a little amorous piece, containing a 
certain number of free unequal verses, not tied together either 
to the scrupulous regularity of a sonnet or the subtlety of an 
epigram, but consisting of some tender and delicate, yet sim- 
ple, thought suitably expressed." 

Our sturdy ancestors discovered that singing after their hearty 
and solid meals was a way to health, and a great promoter of 
digestion. Armstrong, a poet and physician, strongly recom- 
mends this delightful art medicinally. He says : 

" For whatever moves 



The mind with calm delights, promotes the just 
And natural movements of the harmonious whole." 

The French have a maxim : " When the belly is full the 
music goes better." 

Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, says : " I here introduce a fact 
which has been suggested to me by my profession ; that is, the 
exercise of the organs of the breast, by singing, contributes 
very much to defend them from those diseases to which the 
climate and other causes expose them. The Germans are 
seldom afflicted with consumption ; nor have I ever known 
more than one instance of spitting of blood among them. This 
I believe is, in part, occasioned by the strength which their 
lungs acquire by exercising them frequently in vocal music, 
which constitutes an essential branch of their education."* 

At that period, if a person could not sing, or did not under- 
stand music, " it excited wonder, and the company inquired 
how he was brought up." 

Heuxner says, " Elizabeth used to be regaled, while at din- 
ner, with twelve trumpets and two kettle-drums, which, with 
five cornets and side drums, made her noble hall ring." 

She probably was aware, being the head of the church, 
that *' the concert of musicians at a banquet is a carbuncle 
set in gold ; and as is the signet of an emerald well trimmed 
with gold, so is the melody of music in a pleasant banquet." — 
Ecclesiasticiis. 

* To those who have a crotchet in their soul, and who ma)!- be afflicted 

with indigestion, I would advise- (and I have, like them, been heir to 

that and other afflictions) to purchase " The Boston Glee Book," by Lowell 
Mason and George J. Webb : they will find it a good remedy. This book 
contains a " choice and extensive collection of glees, madrigals, r.nd rounds, 
selected from the works of the most admired composers." 



THE FINE ARTS. 279 

*jL*hough this loud and stirring music was heard in the large 
.id lofty halls, yet Elizabeth knew and practised on more 
..umble and lively instruments. The following passage from 
Melville's Memoirs will show her in her retirement : " The 
same day, after dinner, my Lord Hunsdon drew me up to a 
quiet gallery, that I might hear some music, (but he said he durst 
not avow it,) and where I might hear the queen play upon the 
virginal ; after I hearkened awhile I took up the tapestry that 
hung before the door of the chamber, and, seeing her back to- 
ward the door, I ventured within the chamber and stood in a 
pretty place hearing her play excellently well ; but she left 
off immediately, as soon as she turned her about, and came for- 
ward to strike me with her hand, alleging she was not used to 
play before men, but, when she was solitar}^, to shun melan- 
choly ;" for " a merry heart is the life of the flesh." — Proverbs. 

D'Israeli says : " We have been a great ballad nation, and 
once abounded with songs of the people. They are described 
by Puttenham, a critic in the reign of Elizabeth^ as ^ small 
and popular songs, sung by those Cantabranqid upon benches 
and barrel-heads, where they have no other audience than boys 
or country fellows that pass by them in the streets ; or else by 
blind harpers or such-like tavern minstrels, that give a fit of 
mirth for a groat.' Such were those ' Reliques of ancient 
poetry,' which Selden collected, Pepys preserved, and Percy 
published. Ritson, our great poetical antiquary, says that few 
are older than the reign of James I. The more ancient songs 
of the people perished, by having been printed on single sheets, 
and their humble publishers having no other library to preserve 
them than the walls on which they were pasted. Those we 
have are from a succeeding race of ballad-makers." " These 
writers, in their old age, collected their songs into little penny 
books, called ' Garlands ;' and a recent editor has well described 
them as ' humble and amusing village strains, founded upon the 
squabbles of a wake, tales of untrue love, superstitious rumours, 
or miraculous traditions of the hamlet.' They enter into the 
picture of our manners as well as folio chronicles." 

" An ordinance, published by Oliver Cromwell against the 
strolling fiddlers, silenced the ballad-singers and obliged the 
sellers to shut up shop."* 

Percy, in his Reliques, says : " We have more songs on 
madness than all other nations together. "| 

* Hawkins. 

t I have now before me " Hymns for occasional use in the parish church 
of St. Peter, at Nottingham," (1819,) by the Rev. R. W. Almond, M.A., 
rector. In the preface he states : " The introduction of that on suicide wra* 
suggested by its alarming increase." 



280 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

The musical instruments of that period were not so nume- 
rous, SO good, nor of so great a variety as in our time. We 
learn that the music accompanying the morris-dancers and the 
May games was either the simple pipe, the tabor and pipe, or the 
bag-pipes. In a collection of madrigals printed in 1600 there 
^ this verse : 

" The spring, clad all in gladness, 
Doth laugh at winter's sadness ; 
And to the bag-pipe's sound 
The nyaiphs tread out the ground." 

" Gorbudoc," a drama written by Lord Buckhurst in 1561, 
(three years before Shakspeare was born,) has the following 
regulation-: First act, the music of violins begin to play ; second 
act, music of cornets ; third act, music of flutes, (these, I sup- 
pose, were blown down from one end, and not like the German 
or side flute ;) fourth act, music of oboes ; fifth act, music of 
drums and flutes. They had also a rebeck, at first with only 
three strings, but which soon received a fourth ; and also the 
lute. A performer on the latter instrument is thus immortalized 
by Shakspeare : 

"Dowland to thee is dear, whose heavenly toucli 
Upon the liife doth ravish human sense." 

From " The Music of Nature," by W. Gardiner, (Boston 
edition, 1838,) I copy the following remarks on the introduction 
of some of our instruments : 

" The Cremona violins of 1 660 are the best ever made. Those 
by A. and J. Amati are rather smaller than those now used ; but 
those by Stradivarius are rather larger and louder : some have 
been sold as high as two hundred guineas ; they improve with 
age. The violin has not been altered in shape during the last 
three hundred years. A bar of music, according to the French 
school, may be bowed fifty-four different ways. The bassoon 
was introduced by Handel about 1720 ; the clarionet in 1770 ; 
the piano-forte by Bache, who was born 1685 and died 1750. 
Cervetti introduced the violincello : the trombone was discover- 
ed at Herculaneum and Pompeii." 

In that very amusing and instructive work, which every one 
who is fond of music should read, we are farther informed 
that " two hundred years ago a solo for either instrument or 
voice was unknown. Tlie shake is peculiar to England: for- 
merly their compositions were crowded with shakes and thrills, 
which our forefathers called double relishes. Most of the old 
English songs are of a grave cast, in the key of G minor. The 
strains of Irish and Welch music may be referred to the harp. 



THE FINE ARTS. 281 

Scotland is the only country in the world that retains an art- 
less melody," which she received originally from Ireland. In 
the year 1792 there was a general meeting of all the Irish 
harpers at Belfast, and from them " a general collection of 
Irish airs " has been published by Edward Bunting, in two vols. 
Giraldus Cambrensis, who visited Ireland in the reign of Henry 
II., 1155, speaks highly of Irish music : he says the whole 
Welch bards sought information from them. " Gruffydh ap 
Conan," says Powell, " brought over from Ireland some teachers 
to Wales." Selden corroborates this statement. 

" The devoted attachment of the Irish to their own music, 
and the praises it received, their ignorance of the English lan- 
guage, and their rooted aversion to them as their invaders, 
were eflfectual bars to there being any sort of plagiarism." 

In the highland districts of Scotland the harp and the clair- 
shoes have given way to the bag-pipes. Those simple people 
have thus been satirized by Cleland : 

" In nothing they're accounted sharp, 
Except in bag-pipes or in harp." 

In music they have a peculiar style, called the pibroch, 
of which the following is a description, from an " Essay on 
Laughter and Ludicrous Compositions ;" "A pibroch is a species 
of tune peculiar, I think, to the highlands and western isles of 
Scotland : it is performed on the bag-pipes, and differs totally 
from all other music. Its rythm is so irregular, and its notes, 
especially in the quick movement, so mixed and huddled to- 
gether, that a stranger finds it impossible to reconcile his ear 
to it so as to perceive its modulation. Some of the pibrochs, 
being intended to represent a battle, begin with a grave motion 
resembling a march, then gradually quicken into the onset, 
run off with noisy confusion and turbulent rapidity to imitate 
the conflict and pursuit, then swell into flourishes of triumphant 
joy, and perhaps close with the wild and slow wailings of a 
funeral procession." 

Martin Luther first began metrical psalmody in 1517. 

Gardiner asserts that Sternhold, who died in 1549, versified 
fifty of the psalms, and, by the help of Hopkins, he completed 
the rest. 

The Puritans' melody was set to suit all persons, that all 
might join in it : the psalms were sung by the soldiers on their 
marches, and at the lord mayor's civic feasts. 

There was a John Wilbye, a teacher of music, 1598, who 
published a set of thirty madrigals, and a second book, '^ Apt 
both for voyals and voices," in 1609. John Milton, father of 
the poet, (whose profession was a scrivener,) composed ma- 

24* 



282 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

drigals ; and his nephew Phillips says he composed an " In 
nominee " in forty parts, which so pleased a Polish prince 
that he presented him with a gold medal and chain. He also 
composed many psalm tunes ; (the popular one, " The York 
tune," v/as his.) 

It is supposed that the music of the common people of that 
period could not, by any means, match with the pathos of the 
Irish melodies of the same age. 

In the British museum there is a MS. collection of 400 
pages, which belonged to Queen Elizabeth, known as her vir- 
ginal book J containing some English tunes, once popular, by 
the first masters of her time : they are nearly all in the key of 
F, no sharp at the clef. 

There was a piece of music, with words, composed in anti- 
cipation of the descent of the Spanish Armada ; but the defeat, 
or rather the dispersion, of that armament did not sufficiently ex- 
cite either poet or musician. Perhaps they might have felt the 
force of an observation by La Martine : " Silence is the language 
of a man when what he feels outstrips the ordinary measure of 
his impressions." 

There is a very lively air called " Green Sleeves," published 
1580, often alluded to by Shakspeare. It was introduced into 
" The Beggar's Opera," and called " Green Sleeves and Yel- 
low Lace." The words are characterized more by their, hu- 
mour than by their delicacy. 

" In speaking of choral music during the long and prosper- 
ous reign of Elizabeth, our national honour seems to require a 
more diffused detail than at any other period ; for perhaps we 
never had so just a claim to equality with the rest of Europe. 
Yet, with respect to harmony, canon, and fugee, and such 
laboured and learned contrivances as were then chiefly studied 
and admired, we can produce such proofs of great abilities in 
the compositions of our countrymen as candid judges of their 
merits must allow abound in every kind of excellence as was 
then known or expected." — Burney''s History of Music. 

M. Castil Blaze observes that " melody belongs entirely to 
the imagination : it is the result of a happy inspiration ; is not 
of the calculation of science." Another writer says : " It is 
the power of melody which draws tears of grief or quickens the 
pulse with joy." 

" Then strike up, my master, 

But touch the strings with a religious softness ! 
Teach sound to languish through the night's dull ear, 
Till melancholy starts from ofi' her couch, 
And carelessness grows convert to attention l" 

Neale, in his History of the Puritans, says : " The service in 



THE FINE ARTS. 283 

Queen Elizabeth's chapel was not only sung with organs, but 
with other instruments, such as cornets, sacbuts, &c., on days 
of festival." In 1550 the whole book of common praj^^er 
was set to music by John Marbick, organist of Windsor. 

" Anthems were first introduced in the reformed service of 
the English church in the beginning of the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth."* 

" It was by the moderation, liberality, and intelligence that 
choral music was saved from utter destruction and extirpa- 
tion ; for the outcry and violence of the Puritans against play- 
ing upon organs, curious singing, and tossing about psalms from 
side to side J (meaning antiphonal or alternate singing,) were at 
this time so great that they could only be restrained by an 
exertion of all the powers and firmness of the queen. "| 

However, it was only restrained for a time. When the 
liturgy had been declared, by an ordinance passed 1643, to be 
" a superstitious ritual," no music was to be allowed, but " all 
was to sing out of the psalm book ; the minister, or some fit 
person, do read the psalm, line by line, before the singing." 
In the opinion of those then in power, no organs were to remain in 
the churches, choral books should be torn and destroyed, painted 
glass windows to be broken, and cathedral service abolished. 
" In consequence of these tenets, collegiate and parochial 
churches had been stripped of their organs and ornaments, 
monuments defaced, sepulchral inscriptions on brasses torn off, 
libraries and repositories ransacked for musical service books, 
which, being all deemed alike superstitious and ungodly, were 
committed to the flames, and every means used to their utter 
extirpation."! App. xix. 

Howell, wno wrote in 1645, says : '' If crosses, churches, 
windows, organs, and fonts are now battered down, I little 
wonder at it ; for chapels, monasteries, hermitaries, nunneries, 
and other religious houses were used so in the time of old 
King Harry." 

It is painful thus to repeat, even for the purpose of denounc- 
ing, profaneness and puerilities at once so daring and so frivo- 
lous ; yet it is the part of the historian to do so. How vast 
is the difference between the use of a thing and its abuse ! 

The dispute between Charles and his parliament, the attacks 
of Gosson in his " School of Abuse," and the more daring 
Prynne in his more virulent " Histrio-mastrix," nearly abolished 
this delightful art from England, till the restoration revived 
its practice. What a lesson does this lamentable portion of 
history teach mankind — to make timely and judicious reforms 
before bad passions get called into action. 

* Bucke. t Burney. % i'L;d, 



284 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

The opposers of this delightful art were many of them 
scholars. If their coldness could not feel its effects, surely 
they might have found in the classical writings such among 
the many maxims which follow : Strabo says, " Music is 
the work of God." Plutarch calls it "the universal science." 
Cassiodorus says, " Music dispels sorrow, soothes anger, sof- 
tens cruelty, excites to activity, sanctifies the quiet of vigils, 
and recalls from shameful lusts to chastity, through the me- 
dium of the corporeal senses, the incorporeal soul." Theo- 
phrastus says, " Music has three principles — grief, pleasure, 
and the divine inspiration." The learned Digby says, "Per- 
haps poetry and music were the most original gifts which 
the Creator attached to the present condition of man's life, in 
order to enable him to sustain the wretchedness of his exile." 
Ensor says, " He who cannot feel the effects of music is to 
be pitied ; he who belies it should be punished." 

They did not, however, succeed to the extent of their ma- 
levolent wishes, though they made havoc enough ; their miscal- 
culated malignity again failed them, as it had done before. 

In the halls of the nobility, and in the houses of the cavaliers 
and some of the Puritans, musical instruments were occasion- 
ally heard. Anthony Wood informs us that " the University 
of Oxford held musical parties once a week." The turbulent 
Cromwell himself was a lover of music. Hawkins says : " He 
ordered a discarded organ from Magdalen College, Oxford, to 
be carefully conveyed to Hampton Court, where it was placed 
in the great gallery ; and one of his favourite amusements was 
to be entertained with this instrument during his leisure hours. 
He paid John Hingston JSIOO per year for officiating as 
his organist. 

Queen Elizabeth's love of music did not overcome her usual 
state parsimony. It was her maxim, and a more noble one 
never came from mortal lips, " That money in her subjects^ 
purses was as well there as in her exchequer. ^^ This noble 
sentiment softens down a great deal of the asperity which one 
cannot help Reeling when contemplating some very flagrant 
parts of her conduct. She paid her household meanly. 

James, her successor, augmented the salaries of the Royal 
Chapel. He increased the chapel-master's salary forty pounds 
per year. There was paid out of the exchequer, to twenty- 
two musicians fc- their fees and liveries, (to some, 2s. 8d. 
per day ; to sixteen, 2s. 6d. and their liveries ; and to most 
others, 20d. by the day, and like allowance unto all,) for the 
whole year, £1062 12s. 6d. 

The limits I have prescribed to myself will not permit me 
to enumerate the whole of the eminent men of this period, 



THE FINE ARTS. ^o5 

and their works : yet I cannot omit Dr. Gibbons, a cathedral 
music composer, " the pride of his time and the admiration of 
the present." He was appointed organist to the Royal Chapel 
in 1604, then only twenty-one years of age. 

The next king, the unfortunate Charles, who was the oppo- 
site of his father in most of his political, and in all his private, 
qualifications, " was rather an able performer on the viol-da- 
gamha.''''* He patronised Dr. Child, a very able English com- 
poser ; indeed " he felt and honoured the music of his country 
during his turbulent reign. "| 

When Charles H. was restored he found great difficulty in 
making up a choir — the choral vicars having all been dispersed, 
some to benefit their condition in foreign lands ; and there 
were only four organ builders in all England to repair any of 
the old organs that could be found, or to build new ones ; so that 
it took several years to reconstruct a good orchestra. He also 
stimulated the nation to make head without help from Italy or 
Germany. 

It is to this monarch the English are indebted for the in- 
troduction of the violin, as it now is, into private houses. 
Having been in France during the commonv/ealth, he had 
plenty of opportunities of appreciating its beauties. He had, on 
court days, '■^ four-and-iwenty fiddlers all in a row,'" composed 
and arranged with tenors and bases. Anthony Wood gives an 
account of their not being liked ; they were said to sound fretful, 
and that they would not succeed ; but there were, however, 
more false prophets than he during this century. 

About this period came into notice Henry Purcell, born 
in 1658. Burney observes : "He was a great musician, and 
may be ranked with Shakspeare in productions of the stage, 
with Milton in epic poetry, with Locke in metaphysics, or 
with Newton in philosophy." 

Before the seventeenth century had drav/n quite to a close, 
a taste for music had made considerable progress in the metro- 
polis. Public concerts, vocal and instrumental, English and 
Italian, were frequently given. Evelyn and Pepys, in their 
" Memoirs," mention, in warm terms of praise, several per- 
formers whom they had heard publicly and privately ; but it 
is at the same time evident that a disposition in the upper 
ranks to patronise foreigners in preference to native musicians 
gained ground. 

This predilection, however, was not allowed to influence the 
cathedral music ; for fashion, powerful though it Avas, and 
always is, could not force aliens, both of country and religion, 

* Hawkins, i Burney. 



286 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN- 

into the ecclesiastical establishments : the church music, there- 
fore, regularly proceeded toward its present state. 

The introduction of the Italian opera led the way for 
Handel, a young Saxon. As England became the country of 
his adoption, there he composed all his great works — there he 
permanently resided nearly fifty years, amassed an independent 
fortune, breathed his last, and found a grave. His works are 
now claimed as national productions, though not actually by an 
JEnglishman. This title is rather farther strengthened by the 
fact that, till within a few years past, scarcely one of his works 
had been performed out of the British Isles, though all were 
written more than eighty, and some of them more than a 
hundred, years ago. 

" The Messiah," strange as it may now appear, failed on its 
fii^st performance in London in 1741 ; but in Dublin, soon after, 
it received every proof of the highest admiration. The circum- 
stance is thus noticed by the following powerful and pathetic 
appeal by Pope in the Dunciad : 

" But soon, ah, soon ! rebellion will commence, 
If music meanly borrows aid from sense : 
Strong in new arms, lo, giant Handel stands, 
Like bold Briareus, with a hundred hands ! 
To stir, to rouse, to shake the soul he comes, 
And Jove's own thunder follows Mars's drums. 
Arrest him, empress, or you sleep no more : 
She heard — and drove him to th' Hibernian shore." 

The popular songs and ballads w^ere much improved during 
this reign. 

" Between a smger and musician 
Wide is the distance and condition ; 
The one repeats, the other knows. 
The sounds Vi^hich harmony compose." 

In the reign of James II. came forth " God save the King," 
and also '' Lillibullero," said to have been written by Lord 
Wharton, which, according to Bishop Burnet, ^' was sung by 
the whole army, and by the people in both city and country." 
It was the principal cause of this king's abdication. It con- 
sisted of a string of political grievances, real or supposed, set to 
an Irish air. The reading of it, at this lapse of time, seems very 
nonsensical ; but it had as prodigious a heart-stirring effect 
as the celebrated " Yankee Doodle " had upon the good folks 
here, or the no less celebrated Marsellois Hymn had upon the 
early French republicans. 

Extraordinary is the effect of national airs in all countries. 
Who has not heard of the powerful effect of the air " Ranz des 



THE FINE ARTS. 287 

Vs-ches " upon the Swiss ? The tasteful feeling, Goethe says, 
of the " gondolier songs " of Venice, " The air moves even to 
tears." There is an aneodote told, that, when Sir Joshua 
Reynolds was at Venice, the musicians of the theatre, out 
of compliment to him, played some English airs, which made 
him weep like a child. 

Fletcher, of Saltoun, said : " If a man were permitted to 
make all the ballads, he need not care who should make all 
the laws of a nation." The brilliant, but profligate, Sheridan 
having lived in an age where iti powerful effects had been 
twice proved, it brought forth from him this observation : " Let 
me write the popular songs, and I care not who writes the 
prose," which sanctions the beautiful saying of F. Schlegel : 
" Fancj'' itself is one of the most essential grounds of conscious' 
nessj^^ proving " there is a divinity that stirs within us." 

" Those faults which artful men conceal, 
Stand here engraved with pen of steel 
By conscience, that impartial scribe, 

Whose honest palm disdains a bribe." Collins's Visions, 

" Martini of Bologna, born 1706, formed a musical library 
of seventeen hundred volumes. Jomelli, Gluck, and Mozart 
sought advice from him."* 

MY MINDE TO ME A KINGDOME IS.-f 

"My minde to me a kingdome is — 

Such perfect joy therein I finde 
As far exceeds all earthly blisse 

That God or nature hath assignde : 
Though much I want that most would ha\e. 
Yet still my minde forbids to crave. 

Content 1 live, this is my stay ; 

I seek no more than may suffice, 
2 presse to beare no hanghtie sway ; 

Look, what I lacke my minde supplies : 
Loe ! thus I triumph like a king, 
Content with that my minde doth bring. 

I see how plenlie surfets oft, 

And hastie clymbers soonest fall ; 
I see that such as sit aloft 

Mishap doth threaten most of all ; 
These get with toile and keep with feare 
Such cares my minde could never beare. 

* Digby. 

t This excellent philosophic song was published in the siir'eenth century. 
It was set Ic music by William Byrd, one of the gents, of the queen 
majesty's hono'. •idle chapel, 1588. 



288 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

No princely pomp nor wealthie store, 

No force to winne the victoria, 
No wylie wit to salve a sore, 

No shape to winne a lover's eye : 
To none of thcse I yielde as thralle. 
For why 1 my minde despiseth all. 

Some have too much, yet still they cravo ; 

J little hare, yet seek no more ; 
They are but poore, though much they crave^ 

And I am riche with little store. 
Iliey poore, I riche ; they beg, I give , 
They lacke, T lend ; they pine, I live. 

I laugh not at another's lopse, 
I grudge not at another's gaine, 

No worldly wave my minde can tosse, 
i brooke — that is, another's bane ; 

I feare no foe nor fawne on friende, 

I lothe not life nor dreade mine ende. 

I join not in any earthly blisse, 

I weigh not Crasusi's wealthe a straw ; 

For CARE, I care not what it is, 
I feare not fortune's fatall lawe : 

My minde is such as may not move 

For beautie bright nor force of love. 

I wish but what I have at will, 
I wander not to seek for more ; 

I like the plaine — I clime no hill — 
In greatest stormes I sit on shore, 

And laugh at them that toile in^vaine 

To get what must be lost againe. 

I kisse not where I wish to kille, 

I feigne not love where most I hate ; 

I breake no sleepe to winne my will, 
I wayte not at the myghties gate ; 

I scorne no poore, I feare no riche, 

I feel no want, nor have too much. 

The courte ne cart I like ne lothe,* 
Extreames are counted worst of all , 

The golden meane betwixt them both 
Doth surest sit, and feares no fall : 

This is my choyce, for why 1 I finde 

No wealthe is like a quiet minde. 

My wealthe is healthe and perfect ease, 
My conscience clere my chiefe defence ; 

I never seeke by brybes to please. 
Nor by desert to give offence : 

Thus do I live, thus will I die — 

Would all did so as well as I." 

* The court or cottage I neither like nor loatfe 



THE FINE ARTS. 3B9 

A song like this, set to music and being popular, is a con 
vincing proof of the taste, ease, and happiness of the people ; 
they were not continually tornnented about collecting together 
pounds, shillings, and pence for others to expend, so they 
cultivated the art of singing. 

This celebrated composer, who was the author of " Non 
Nobis Domine, "^ gave the following eight reasons for learning 
to sing, in a work entitled ^' Psalms, Sonnets, and Songs of 
Sadness and Piete," 1598 : " First ; It is a knowledge easilie 
taught and quickly learned, when there is a good master and an 
apt scholar. Secondly ; The exercise of singing is delightful 
to nature, and good to preserve the health of man. Thirdly ; 
It doth strengthen all parts of the heart, and doth open the 
pipes. Fourthly ; It is a singular good remedy for a stuttering 
and stammering in the speech. Fifthly ; It is the best means 
to preserve a perfect pronunciation, and to make a good orator. 
Sixthly ; It is the only way to know when nature hath 
bestowed a good voice, which gift is so rare that there is 
not one among a thousand that hath it. Seventhly ; There is 
not any music of instruments whatsoever comparable to that 
which is made of men's voices, when the voices are good, and 
the same well sorted and orderly. Eighthly ; The better the 
voice is, the meeter it is to honour and serve God therewith : 
and the voice of man is chiefly to be employed to that end. 
Omrds spiritus laudet Dominum.'^'^* 

CEoLiAN Harp. — Every lover of nature's harmony is indebted 
for this simple, but pleasing, instrument to Athanasius Kircher, 
a learned German Jesuit, who died 1680. He describes the 
method of constructing and using it in his " Phonurgia Nova," 
1659. His instrument was "made of pine wood, five palms 
(fifteen inches), long, two broad, and one deep : it may contain 
fifteen or more strings, all made of catgut. The method of 
tuning it is not as in other instruments, by thirds, fourths, and 
fifths, but all the strings are to be in unison, or in octaves ; 
and it is wonderful that such different harmony should be 
produced from strings thus tuned." 

The learned Mathew Young, of Trinity College, Dublin, 
has paid considerable attention to it in his " Inquiry into the 
Principles of the Phenomena of Sounds." He says : " The 
phenomena of the oeolian lyre may be accounted for on princi- 
ples analogous to those by which the phenomena of sympa- 
thetic sounds are explained." 

* Musical Times. 
25 



290 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIW. 

ON AN ffiOLIAN HARP. 

" Thus music's empire in the soul began, 
The first-born poet ruled the first-born man '• 

" While beneath the moon's dim ray 
Waves in peace the silent grove, 
What sounds along the valley play ' 
These fairy strings unfinger'd move. 

Waked by breath of vernal breezes, 
Swell on high the magic notes, 

Ever varying, still it pleases, 

While on the air the music floats. 

Where the moonbeam's trembling lighEi; 

Shining on the sylphic ring, 
Moves quick or slow the airy sprite 

With the wildly sounding string. 

When touch'd by ruder gales, the lyre 
Majestic sounds in tones sublime-, 

While fancy, warm'd with kindred fire^ 
Looks back on deeds of ancient time. 

Glowing with the martial sound, 

I long for glory to engage, 
To deal the deadly blow around 

With heroes of a former age. 

But lo ! the strains so solemn flow. 
Seem like the dirges of the slain— 

Sudden changed my warmth to wo. 
And bring reflection's sober train. 

And now by softer breath inspired, 
The broken murmurs falter love, 

And call to scenes of peace retired — 
Hesperia's bower — Arcadia's grove. 

Such was the wildly varying song 
That fill'd the echoing air, I'm told, 

When Ossian charm'd the list'ning thronff 
Of blue-eyed maids and chieftains bold. 

Such sounds * sweet melancholy ' loves 
As near the lonely tower she treads, 

While wrap'd in thought she slowly moTO*; 
And hears them rise amid the gale. 

Such, in imagination's ear, 

Would be the wild melodious strain, 

Did she, t' excite the pleasing tear, 
In soft and mournful notes complain. 

O'er my melting bosom pour'd, 
Emotions sad — yet soothing rise, 

As deep and low the note is heard, 
Or quivering in the gale it dies. 



THE FINE ARTS. 29i 

Thus all human grandeur flies, 

Proud with the songs of public praise ; 
With passing breath the strains arise, 

But with the breath the song decays !" 



" Th' OEolian harp, that heaven's pure breezes fill, 
Must breathe at times a melancholy song." 

A Revery. — " I heard a sound, or something softly sweet, 
at such a distance that I thought it was something like music. 
I listened, to perceive what it could be — it was gone ; a uni- 
versal silence reigned : then by degrees a tender strain arose, 
soft and sweet as aromatic groves ; onward it seemed to come, 
though still at such a distance that nothing but the most swell- 
ing strains could be distinctly heard. It paused again ; then 
came a gentle whispering, scarcely to be perceived ; when in a 
short time sounds, as if of voices, were heard to join in one 
grand chorus, of the richest and most varied harmony. It 
seemed gradually to approach the place where I sat, but as 
if at times deadened by intervening ivied walls. The sounds 
became fainter, though still mixed with the fullest harmony. 
Again it retreated, and, as if rising high into the air, it seemed as 
though a choir of angels had united to pay a visit to this unhappy 
earth ; but, like the visionary bliss of dreams, when I thought 
it was within my grasp it was gone — 

" ' Vanished, like traces on the deep, 
Or like a sceptre grasped in sleep.' 

" While I was lost in regret for this most beautiful and 
bewitching phantom, a single sound, in a strain of sweetest 
melody, was heard just close behind me : the air was solemn 
and heavenly serene ; the tones were sometimes low and 
plaintive ; then swelling gradually, they burst into an impas- 
sioned stream of rapturous exultation. My soul was lost, as 
it were, within me ; I scarcely dared to breathe, when in an 
instant millions of choral voices joined in one loud, but sweet 
and continued peal of the richest harmony, that seemed to 
drown, in a temporary annihilation, this earth and all its num- 
berless inhabitants. When these strains, after an endless 
variety of ever-changing modulations, at length subsided into a 
breathing pause, and my aerial charmed spirits had recovered 
some little of their usual elasticity, I found myself standing 
erect, with my hands stretched out toward Heaven, as though I 
had been paying my adorations to the Divine being, leaving 
a regret behind that I had not realized those perceptions 



$9@ THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

" Which build a bridge across the gulf of death, 
And land us safely on the farther shore."* 

In the year 1785 the Abbot of Gatoni constructed, at Como, 
in Italy, a gigantic oeolian harp. He stretched fifteen iron wires, 
of various thicknesses, from the top of a tower, about ninety feet 
high, to his dwelling house, about one hundred and fifty paces 
distant. It was observed to indicate with great exactness the 
changes in the weather, which was ascribed to electric influence. 
A similarly constructed one, hy Captain Haas, of Basle, tended 
to the same results. 

I respectfully oifer this hint to captains of ships, who may 
attach them to the masts and rigging : they will relieve the 
monotony of their voyages, and turn to some useful account if 
they have not a marine barometer ; if they are lovers of music, 
they will furnish them with some beautiful sounds, swelling 
and dying away with the richest harmony. As the inconstant 
wind scarcely ever blows alike at any different periods, there is 
no fear of their becoming tired with the same tones ; they will be 
as various to the ear as the ever- varying objects seen in the 
kaledeiscope or the stripes on the riband-grass are to the eye. 

I would advise those who keep singing birds to have an oeolian 
harp ; it would tend to modulate their shrill notes, and send 
forth some delightful symphonies during their pauses — 

"Now huddling, now rehearsing, 
As with the windy messengers conversing." 



THEATRES. 

" The Scripture affords us a divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon, 
consisting of two persons and a double chorus, as Origen rightly judges." 

Milton. 

Mathew, of Paris, says Geoffirey of St. Albans, who was the 
abbot, was sent to Dunstable Priory to act a miracle plaj^ of St. 
Catherine, composed in 1119. After this there were mysteries 
acted in churches : mysteries were allegorical. Then there 
were historical plays, such as the " Massacre of the Danes " 
on Hock Tuesday of 1002 : these were acted at Coventry in 
1416. There were miracle plays acted at Tewksbury in 1585, 

• I regret that I am not enabled to name the authors of these two exqui- 
sitely beautiful compositions. 



THEATRES. ". 293 

at Coventry in 1591, (their list of plays consisted of forty-two,) 
at Newcastle in 1598, and at Kendal in 1603. Dramatic 
exhibitions were prized in noble houses, as is shown by the 
household book of the Earl of Northumberland in 1512. In 
a history of the life of Alleyn, who founded Dulwich College,' 
it is stated that plays were acted in the courts and galleries of 
inns in 1588. 

In Queen Elizabeth's reign plays concluded with prayers 
for the queen ; if enacted in private houses, for the lord or lady 
of the manor. 

There were two plays printed in the time of Henry VIII. ; 
they showed symptoms of tragedy and comedy : they were call- 
ed moralities. In the time of Elizabeth, though the writer 
scarcely knew how to distinguish them, they began to ap- 
pear in regular form. The last play she attended was in 1600 ; 
it was a moral play, called " Contention between Liberality and 
Prodigality," by A. Green : it was printed in 1602. Collier, 
says : " Moral plays kept their ground long, because they covert^ 
ly attacked popular prejudices, and exhibited temporary opinions 
and public events." The play " All for Money," 1578, was 
called both a comedy and a tragedy. " Ralph Roister Doister " 
was the first comedy printed, about 1 55 1 . Bishop Bale applied 
the name tragedy to his mystery of " God''s Promises^'' in 1538. 
" Gorbudoc," a regular tragedy, was acted in 1561 .* Historical 
plays began in 1562. Marlow (whose mighty line) was the 
best dramatist before Shakspeare. He lost his life in a brothel 
in 1593. There were also several others, and some of them 
of high pretensions. 

Malone thinks Shakspeare began to write for the stage in 
1591. The first edition of his plays was printed in 1623. He 
says his reasons for writing historical plays were, " The nation 
was ignorant of history, and he wrote them in order to instruct 
them in this particular." He invented twenty different stvles 
of composition : 

" Each change of many colour'd life h,e drew, 
Exhausted worlds, and then created new." Ben Jonson. 

Schlegel exalts Shakspeare above all human praise or excel^ 
lence, saying of him, " Plus eleve Phumanite.'^^ It is pleasant 
to record such a tribute, by a distinguished foreigner, to his 
talents ; but perhaps the following by Addison is the best com- 
pliment ever paid to him : " He was born with all the seeds 
of poetry, and may be compared to the stone in Pyrrhus's ring, 
which, as Pliny tells us, had the figure of Apollo and the nine 

♦ I have given an account of the music to this piece on page 380. 

25* 



j^94 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

muses in the veins of it, produced by the spontaneous hand of 
nature." 

Hazlit, in a vein of clerical gallantry, remarks, that " the 
prettiest little set of martyrs and confessors on record are the 
women in the plays of Shakspeare." 

Dr. Drake has collected a list of forty noble bards and two 
hundred and thirty-three miscellaneous poets who were living 
during Shakspeare's time, (fifty-two years,) none of whom 
were dramatists. 

Robert Green says : " The price of a new play to the public 
players was £6 13s. 4d. ; but private companies gave double. 
Shakspeare received £>o for Hamlet. The bookseller's price of 
a play was sixpence. Shakspeare received from the theatre, as 
author, actor, and proprietor, £200 per year. He wrote thirty- 
five plays. There was very little aid from machinery and de- 
corations. When he retired to Stratford-upon-Avon it is sup- 
posed he was worth full ^£200 per year. 

There was a custom for an author to receive forty shillings 
for the compliment of a dedication to some person, who, having 
^* more money than wit," took that course to reach immortality. 

The most ancient play-house was the Curtain Shoreditch. 
On Shakspeare 's first beginning, in 1592, there were ten thea- 
tres, four private and six public : this was a great number for 
so small a population as London then contained. • 

In 1605 Inigo Jones exhibited an entertainment at Oxford, 
in which moveable scenes were used, (before this there was 
nothing but a mere curtain ;) but it was some years after this 
that machinery came into general use. 

" The drama's laws the drama's patrons give, 
For those who live to please, must please to live." Dryden. 

The parliament would not let the drama remain : in 1642 
they issued an ordinance setting forth, '' public sports do not 
well agree with public calamities, and the other spectacles of 
pleasure too commonly expressive of lascivious mirth and 
levity. Ordered^ that while these sad causes and set times of 
humiliation do continue, public stage-plays shall cease and be 
fbrborne." If these were good reasons, plays might have been 
suppressed to the end of the world. " Thus are m^i govern- 
ed," says Burney, " not by reason or established forms, but by 
the passions that are afloat, and accidental circumstances of the 
times, which, like volcanic eruptions, are equally unforseen 
and irresistible." Collier says the real motive ''was not a 
religious dislike, but a politic caution, lest play-writers should 
histil hostile notions against this Puritanical parliament." 

However, the ordinance was disregarded. This parliamen 



THEATRES. 295 

did not represent the popular sentiment ; it was a hypocritical?*^ 
faction, overflowing 

*' With that low cunning which in some supplies, 
And that amply too, the place of being wise." 

It had no judgment, or else they must have known that 

'The laws live only where the laws do breed 
Obedience to the works they bind us to." 

In 1647 came forth another ordinance " for their better sup- 
pression, and for taking down all their boxes, stages, and seats 
whatever ;" and again, in 1648, an act was passed, '^ making all 
concerned rogues and vagabonds.'*'^ But they were not stopped ; 
they were still acted in private houses. " So strong was the 
public inclination for this kind of amusement, that Robert Cox 
invented a peculiar sort of dramatic representation of short 
pieces, mixed with other entertainments, and, under the pretence ; 
of rope-dancing, he filled the Red Bull play-house ; and so- 
anxious was the crowd, that more went away than could get 
admittance. This dramatic entertainment he called Drolleries 
or Humours. They were the choicest specks from Shakspeare, 
Marston, Shirley, and others. Sir William Davenant began 
in the face of these ordinances, and acted in 1656, and removed 
to the cock-pit, Drury-lane, where his company performed 
without molestation until the eve of the restoration."* 

Such was the conduct of this cruel, deceitful faction, who at 
this day make themselves appear more contemptible from their 
endeavouring to disguise their intolerance under the garb of 
religion. " The sentiment of piety is natural to man, because 
gratitude is a natural feeling in him ; but this may be improved, 
misdirected, or suppressed. The difference between the piety 
of a philosopher and the savage consists in this, that the one is 
better enabled to distinguish what are the proper objects of his 
gratitude. The same may be said of the philosopher and the 
blind, superstitious bigot. "| 

" It is not so with Him that all things knowes, 
As 'tis with us that square our guesse by showes ; 
But most it is presumptuous in us when 
The help of Heaven we account as men." Shakspearei 

An abhorrence of the drama was a strong feature of the 
Puritans ; therefore a habit of play-going was considered a; 
proof of royalty at the restoration. As moveable scenery was" 
introduced a few years before this event, and which has exer- 

* Dramatic Biography. t Timothy Trueman. 



:^^6 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

cised the first talent, such as Inigo Jones, Daniel Mytens, 
Philip and James De Loutherberg, and others, it was now regu- 
larly introduced at Drury-lane ; and, although the expense at 
first startled the proprietors, yet it yielded them sufficient profits. 

The first scenic representation was exhibited in the spring of 
the year 1662, at the Duke of York's Theatre, Lincoln's Inn, 
with the play of " The Siege of Rhodes." The performance'' 
commenced at one o'clock, and usually finished in two hours. 

Music and dancing were soon as much required as the 
splendid scene paintings, and foreign singers and dancers were 
lured at great expense. The stage was now lighted up with 
wax candles, and the orchestra had nine or ten fiddlers ; and 
better attention was also paid to the costume. Pepys says, 
when the play of " Queen Elizabeth " was introduced, all the 
characters were carefully copied from her reign. 

In the year 1660 women were engaged to perform the 
female characters. Before this Dick Kyneston, and one or 
two others, and also some boys, were employed for that 
purpose. Afterward Mrs. Betterton came forth in propria 
personcEj and likewise Nell Gwyne. 

D'Israeli says : " To us there appears something so repul- 
5ive in the exhibition of boys or men personating female cha- 
racters, that one cannot conceive how they could ever have 
been tolerated as a substitute for the spontaneous grace, the 
melting voice, and the soothing looks of a female." A poet 
who lived in the time of Charles II., and who has written a 
prologue to Othello to introduce the first actress^ has touched 
humorously on this gross absurdity : 

" Our women are defective, and so sized, 
You'd think tbey were some of the guard disguised ; 
For to speak truth, men act, that are between 
Forty and fifty, wenches of fifteen ; 
With brows so large and nerve so uncompliant, 
When you call Desdemona — enter giant." 

Several plays were produced of the lewdest description, 
played by women. This created fresh complaints, that the 
actresses added to the general depravity ; and the host of royal 
concubines from the play-houses sufficiently attest the justice 
of the accusation. 

" At one time Lady Castlemaine was mightily out of request, 
the king going little to her. As the king had two actresses, 
(having been captivated by Mary Davies, who danced a jig 
marvellously, and by Nell Gwyne, another public actress, both 
of whom he was accustomed to introduce at court,) Lady 
Castlemaine retaliated upon him ; so she took to herself two 
actors, or rather one stage-player and a rope-dancer." — Pepys 



THEATRES. 2§7 

"Immodest words admit of no defence. 
For want of decency is want of sense." Pope, 

lacentious scenes and incidents in plays were not then 
looked upon in that light by anybody, because they were 
wrapped up in double entendre : flimsy enough was the veil ; but 
such was the manner of the times, that anything was admitted 
that contained in itself an epigrammatic piquant raciness 
of thought or expression. I offer this by no means as an 
apology for this lewdness ; I am only stating an historical fact. 

Percy, in his " Reliques of English Poetry," says there 
was a song of this description, called " Welcome Fortune," in 
" The Book of the universal Kirk," by Tom Bassendine, 
Edinboro', printed July, 1568 : " it is a psabne book.^^ 

The author is well aware that the English language, copious 
as it is, cannot forcibl}^ enough express the beautiful effects of 
female modesty ; but the following lines are an attempt, feeble 
,though the}' may be : 

ON MODESTY. 

Hail modesty, serene and heavenly maid, 

A perfect seraph both in form and mind ! 
Like to the cedar that doth the pale moon shade, 

Such meek and tender sentiments combine. 

Thy raptures how inspired, how true and neat, 
More chaste and delicate than India's pearls; 

More mild than justice throned on mercy's seat, 
Which the blossom'd treasures spring unfurls. 

How sweet the timid glances of thine eye, 

How soft the infant pantings of thy breast, 
How pure the tribute of thy murmuring sigh, 

How still the midnight slumbers of thy rest ! 

No gold can purchase thy assuasive mien, 

The pomp of power doth not belong to thee ; 
Thou'rt with the graces and the virtuous seen. 
The noblest form is most adorn'd by thee. 

" The introduction of females on the stage was the begin- 
ning of a change ever to be regretted. Pride of birth, but not,=, 
insolence, is, to a certain extent, highly commendable, and," 
which had hitherto been the chief characteristic of the old 
English aristocracy, who had kept themselves till now almost 
universally free from stainless alliances ; but from this time 
they became the patrons, and even the husbands, of any lewd, 
babbling, painted, pawed-over thing that the purlieus of the 
theatre could produce." — Pepys. 



298 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

In 1670 a rencounter took place connected with the players, 
which was the occasion of an act of parliament " for preventing 
malicious maiming and wounding," and for a time was called 
the Coventry act. Bishop Burnet gives the following curious 
account of this transaction : "Sir John Coventry was one of 
those members of the house of commons who struggled much 
against what they thought the improper distribution of the 
public money ; and it was then usual for those who succeeded 
in rejecting bills of such description, to propose other methods 
of procuring the requisite supplies. It was proposed, therefore, 
on the present occasion, to lay a tax on the theatres, which 
were no better than nests of prostitution. This was opposed 
by the court. It was contended that the players were the 
king's servants, and a part of his pleasures ; upon which Sir 
John asked whether the king's pleasure lay among the men 
or the women that acted } This was carried with great 
indignation to court : it was considered as a personal reflection 
upon his majesty, and if this was passed over, more of the 
same kind would become fashionable and common. It was, 
therefore, thought fit to take such severe notice of this present 
instance, that no one should dare to talk in that manner for 
the future. The Duke of York told the writer that he had 
endeavoured to divert the king from the resolution he had 
taken ; which was, to send some of the guards to watch in the 
street where Sir John Coventry lodged, and to leave a mark 
upon him. The fact, by bills of indictment, was found to have 
been committed by Sir Thomas Sanly, Knt., Charles O'Bryan, 
Esq., Simon Parry, and Miles Reeves, who fled from justice. 
As Coventry was going home these persons surrounded him ; 
but he stood up to the wall, snatched the flambeau out of his 
servant's hand, and, with the light in one hand and his sword in 
the other, he defended himself with great personal courage. 
He wounded some of the aggressors, but was soon disarmed 
himself, having his nose cut to the bone, to teach him, as they 
said, to remember what respect he owed to the king. They then 
left him and returned to the Duke of Monmouth's house, where 
O'Bryan's arm was dressed. This affair was executed by orders 
from the Duke of Monmouth, for which he was severely cen- 
sured, because he lived at that time in profession of friendship 
with Coventry ; so that his subjection to the king was not 
thought an excuse for directing so vile an attempt on his friend. 
Sir John's wound was so well dressed by his surgeon, that the 
scar was scarcely visible. This vile treatment of one of their 
members excited in the house of commons great confusion. 
They passed a bill of banishment against the actors, and added a 
clause that it should not be in the king's power to pardon them 



THEATRES. 299 

and that in future death should be the punishment of every 
similar offence." 

The audience soon became fastidious, and many a piece was 
capriciously d — d that deserved a better fate. Personal pique 
and political jealousy Vi^as allowed to interfere, so that the 
theatre was obliged to be shut up, to learn the frequenters 
better manners ; and they were also hy order oftentimes shut 
up, to teach them more moderation when they put forth their 
biting, bitter, but just remarks against Charles II. 's profligacy, 
or any person in power. — Pepys. 

Such wits as Buckingham and Rochester could frequently 
confer popularity upon the dullest, as well as bring disgrace 
upon the best written piece. Sometimes the well-merited 
influence of a dramatic writer could pack a house in his 
favour, and wo betide any one's condemnation. As the public 
theatre now absorbed the chief talent, court pageants did 
not keep pace with these representations. The court pageants 
were always a scene of buffoonery, rudeness, and lewdness. 
1660. — Pepys. 

History has been defined to be philosophy teaching by 
example. Therefore, in noticing the changes in the manners 
and customs, it is always proper for the historian to portray 
before his readers the principal influential causes that produce 
them. I must, therefore, make a digression on politics. 

Since the period that the house of commons has (although it 
has never been, in fact, a real popular branch) exercised some 
influence on public affairs, the course of corruption has been 
gradually changing. In its first progress a direful menace from 
the sovereign was sometimes sufficient to awe them into 
submission, and to make them yield to his mandates ; but if a 
few members only were unruly, they were induced to succumb 
by some species of honour or title, or more open bribery by 
place or pension. Thus arose the profligate and corrupt maxim 
of Walpole, that " every man has his price." But, however 
effectual such a course of proceeding might be in either houses 
of parliament, the court found there was a public out, and 
" that man hath yet a soul and dare be free." In this 
particular the English people stand forth, in bold and brazen 
colours, conspicuously before the world in their wit, tact, and 
ingenuity. At the public elections in large towns mere guzzle 
and swill has been found to be effectual enough. In family or 
more closer boroughs it has been effected by giving to the 
sons of voters offices in the customs and excise. In the 
" Wen," the greai metropolis, prose and poetry, sculpture and 
painting, the arts and manufactories, even down to the com- 
monest sports of the day, have the living wits sent forth through 

the theatres 



300 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

their lashing sarcasms, at once keenly pointed, confounding, 
and cutting, to the court and courtiers. 

In 1711 a procession of wax figures, which had. been an- 
nounced for the birthday of Queen Elizabeth, so much annoyed 
the government that a secretary of state's warrant was issued 
for the apprehension of the puppets. Even squalling Punch 
abandoned his domestic brawls for public feuds, and was at the 
corners of the streets gibbering and gabbhng for or against the 
existing order of things. 

At the close of our period female politicians abounded. Lady 

Sunderland, second daughter of Marlborough, and commonly 

called the " little Whig,^' had, like her mother, a beautiful head 

of hair ; and with her fair tresses she was wont to angle for 

the hearts of the Tories, by receiving at her toilette all those 

votes or interests she wished to secure while they stood by.* 

At public places the political party to which a lady belonged 

was known by the arrangement of her patches. In the Spec- 

itor, No. 81, is a humorous description of a beautiful Whig, 

lady who had a natural mole, like a patch, upon the Tory side 

of the brow, by which she was sometimes mistaken for an 

ally by her political opponents, and thus, like a privateer 

under false colours, she often sunk an unwary enemy by an 

unexpected broadside. 

At the theatre the female Whigs and Tories sat upon oppo- 
site sides of the house, while those ladies who had not declared 
themselves, patched their faces on both sides of the brow, making 
the whole house a mosaical piece of political patch-work. 
" What phantoms we are, and what phantoms we pursue !" 

Notwithstanding Walpole's profligate maxim, though he 
found his corrupt court-plaster a cure for all sores in those 
places immediately under his control, yet the stage levelled 
its anathemas still strongly at him and all his works, so that 
he at last, by act of parliament, (oh ! those acts !) prohibited 
the acting of any plays without a license from the lord cham- 
berlain, which act continues to this day, exhibiting a monument 
of his tyranny to hide his profligacy, and which will account 
for the English drama ever since being so insipid and uninte- 
resting, as it now is. Well might Byron say : 

" But, and I grieve to name it, plays 
Are drugs, mere drugs, sir, now-a-days." 

So will they continue, as long as authors are obliged to sub- 
mit their genuine thoughts to be pruned down by the govern- 
ment reader ; for every compromised sentiment is as unsavour'^ 
as unripe fruit. 

* Walpole's Reminiscences. ->- ; <-"5 if r^>?Fii»2^ 



THEATRES. 3(J1 

In the year 1692 was born John Mottley, the author of the 
renowned jest book, " Joe Miller^'''^ which he addressed to a 
comedian of that name, but who contributed nothing but the 
name toward its compilation. Mottley wrote five plays, and 
some other works of no high repute. He held a low situation 
in the custom-house, which he relinquished. 

The first pantomime performed with grotesque characters 
was at Drury-lane, in 1702. The following six lines are from 
" The Curiosities of Literature :" 

" When Lun appear'd, with matchless art and whim, 
He gave the power of speech to every limb ; 
Tho' mask'd and mute, convey'd his quick intent, 
And told in frolic gestures what he meant : 
But now the motley coat and sword of wood 
Require a tongue to make them understood." 

They were written on the occasion of Garrick once intro- 
ducing a speaking harlequin. 

During the eighteenth century there was a theatrical fracas, 
which created as much stir, though it did not last so long, as 
the 0. P. row did in the nineteenth. 

" Oh ! what a row, what a rumpus, and a rioting !" 

The livery servants showed off in most insolent arrogance 
and rudeness. When they attended their masters or mistresses, 
they were allowed seats in the gallery gratis ; and their num- 
bers, their union, and their confidence gave them unlimited 
power. " I am he," writes a representative of one of these 
dramatic censors, " that keeps time by beating with my cudgel 
against the boards in the gallery at an opera : I am he that am 
touched so properly at a tragedy, when the people of quality 
are staring at each other during the most important incidents : 
when you hear in a crowd a cry in the right place, a hum when 
the point is touched in a speech, or a buzz or a set up when 
it is the voice of the people, you may conclude it is began or 
joined by Thomas Trusty. "*" Their criticisms were at times 
of higher character and more troublesome. " When Cleomines 
or Jane Shore was introduced, dying of hunger, a shower of 
crusts would be hurled upon the stage." This audacious 
conduct was continued until its provoking insolence was such 
as to cause them to be excluded, in the month of May, 1737, 
" when the excluded, to the number of three hundred, armed 
with offensive weapons of various kinds, assaulted Drury-lane 
Theatre, broke open the doors in hostile array and defiance, and 
carried the stage by storm ; although the Prince of Wales and 
several of the royal family were present." 

* Spectator, No. 96. 
26 



302 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

" After a vain attempt to read the riot act^ so as to make it 
to be heard in the midst of this pandemonium of uproar, the 
rioters were quelled by force, and thirty ringleaders were 
captured and sent to prison. Upon this Mr. Fleetwood, the 
manager, received a threatening letter from one of this tawdry 
crew, in wl|ich he insisted that the footmen should occupy the 
gallery as a right, and that if it was closed against them, they 
would come in a body and pull it down. In consequence of 
this abominable threat a guard of fifty soldiers were placed at 
the theatre ; a custom which is still continued ;"* 

"Fixed as sentinels — all eye, all ear." 

In the beginning of the reign of James I. Ben Jonson was 
the writer and arranger of the court masques and pageants. 
Anthony Munday (a citizen and draper) arranged and wrote 
all the city pageants from 1580 to 1621. He also wrote " A 
Survey of London," and several dramatic pieces. " Elkanah 
Settle was the city poet. He was a poor tool : his talent was 
not vivid enough to permit him to be long seen in this situation ; 

" * Some as justly fame extols 

For lofty lines in Smithfield's drolls ;' Swift. 

so he became a player of buffooneries, and acted as a dragon in 
the fooleries of Bartholomew fair, where monkeys were per- 
formers, in appropriate costumes, with Punch ; and the edifiers 
were regaled with the pathetic drama of ' Patient Grizzle,'^ 
and some edifying incidents from Scripture. Attended by the 
higher ranks. ''^'\ 

*' Why should we not these pageantries despise, 
Whose worth but in our want of reason lies." Dryden. 

Besides the theatre and opera, some other exhibitions of the 
dramatic class came into great favour : of these the most power- 
ful was the puppet-show of Mr. Powell. In his little theatre 
interludes upon all subjects, sacred or profane, were acted by 
puppets ; but whether the play was Scriptural or historical, 
Punch was always the principal figure, and his jests formed the 
main amusement. Thus, in a sacred interlude representing the 
deluge. Punch and his blowsy wife were introduced dancing 
merrily in the ark. The following advertisement will give an 
idea of this exhibition : 

" At Punch's Theatre, in the little piaza, Covent Garden, will 
be presented an opera called ' the State of Innocence or Fall 
of Man,' with a variety of scenes and machines, particularly 
the scene of paradise in its primitive state, with birds, beasts, 

* Gentleman's Magazme. t Pepys, 



THEATRES. 303 

and all its ancient inhabitants ; the subtlety of the serpent in 
betraying Adam and Eve, &c., with a variety of diverting inter- 
ludes, too many to be inserted here. No person to be admitted 
with masks or riding-hoods,* nor any money to be returned 
after the curtain is up. Boxes, 2s. ; pit, ]s. : beginning exactly 
at seven o'clock." 

Wynstanley's Water Theatre was another of the minor 
theatres. It stood at the lower end of Piccadilly, and was dis- 
tinguished by a wind-mill at the top. The exhibitions here 
varied according to the season and the humour of the public, 
and consisted chiefly of the representation of sea-deities, nymphs, 
mermaids, tritons, and other aquatic personages, playing and 
spouting out water, or sometimes mingled with fire. The 
price of admission to the boxes varied from 45. to 2s. 6d. ; the 
pit, from 35. to 2s. : there was also a sixpenny gallery. The 
quantity of water used on extraordinary occasions amounted 
to eight hundred tuns. 

In 1703 Mrs. Tofts was the first English woman-singer on 
the stage. Gibber extols her " as a handsome woman, with a 
sweet, silver-toned voice." 

In the year 1741 Garrick was a wine merchant. His first per- 
formance was on the 19th of October, same year, taking the part 
of King Richard. An original hand-bill has been preserved. 
To show the difference in the habits and religious feelings 
between that period and this, he performed on the stage on 
Christmas day, 1742, at the Theatre, Goodman's-fields, Londorj. 

I shall now give a few miscellaneous remarks upon the thea- 
tre from various authors, and then close the chapter. 

Rhyncer states that there were " twenty-three play-houses 
in London, six open at a time." Tobacco was taken in them, 
(smoked.) In some of them there were seats on benches for a 
penny. They were well attended. Edward Allen, a player, got 
rich, and founded Dulwich College out of the proceeds. They 
played on all days, Sundays not excepted : the performance was 
by daylight. Prynne says, in 1629 Frenchwomen performed in 
Black Friar's play-house. The Globe Theatre, in which Shak- 
speare's plays were all principally performed, was covered with 
thatch till burnt down in 1613. 

Puttenham says " they used visors in his time to save a 
number of actors : it was not thought meet to trouble princes' 
chambers with too many folk." Tom Coryate, the "leg 
stretcher," says, speaking of the theatre at Venice : " The 

* Masks and riding-hoods were slill used in the galleries of the royal 
tfheatrcs, for the purpose of licentious intrigue, in the eighteenth century. 
Powell, who regarded himself as a teacher of religion and morals, was anxious 
to guard against such profanations. 



304 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

house is very beggarly and base in comparison of our stately 
play-house in England ; neyther can their actors compare with 
ours for apparell, shovves, and musicke. Here I observed cer- 
taine things that I never saw before, for I saw women act, though 
I have heard that it hath been sometimes used in London ; 
and they performed with as good a grace, action, gesture, and 
whatsoever convenient for a player, as ever I saw any mascu- 
line actor."* 

In the time of Shakspeare twenty pounds was considered a 
good receipt. In 1747 Mrs. Rich was satisfied if her receipt 
per night reached three figures to enumerate the amount ; but 
in Kean's time the nightly expense, when he performed, was 
£484. Accof Sipg to Green, a modern diarist, there were seats 
for special persons on the stage in the early part of the eigh- 
teenth century. It does not appear that the taste in costume 
was always well arranged, for in Addison's time he has wit- 
nessed his ownjtplay, with the Roman Cato acted in a bag-wig, 
like a London alderman. No wonder he coimnitted suicide ! 

Such is a brief review of the English stage. 

How useful might the theatre be made, at once a school of 
virtue, manners, history, and sentiment ; for it combines within 
itself poetry, prose, music, painting, scenery, and decorations. 
These, in the hands of genius and talent, would tend to the 
formation of good citizens, and excite a feeling of good taste 
upon all subjects. 

To conclude, 

*' The play should let you see 
Not only what you are, but ought to be." Gibber. 



COURT AMUSEMENTS. 

' ** The learning of antiquity is always venerable." Boileau. 

Queen Elizabeth was much attached to dramatic repre- 
sentations. About 1569 she formed the singing children of her 
royal chapel into a company of theatrical performers. Soon 
after this she formed a second society of players, under the title 
of " Children of the Revels." By these two companies all 
Lilly's plays, many of Shakspeare's, and some of Jonson's were 
first performed. 

One of those boys, Salathiel Pavy, died 1601, aged thirteen 

* Crudities. 



COURT AMUSEMENTS. 305 

years. He was famous for performing old men. She had the 
following epitaph composed for him : 

THE EPITAPH. 

" Weep with me, all you that read 
This little story, 
And know for whom a tear you shed- 
Death's self is sorry : 
'Twas a child that did so thrive 
•In grace and feature, 
As heaven and nature seemed to strive 
Which own'd the creature. 
Years he numt)ered scarce thirteen, 

When fates turn'd cruel, 

Yet three filled zodiacs had he been 

The stage's jewel ; 

And did act what now we moan, 

Old men so duly, 

That the Parcce thought him one 

He play'd so truly : 

So by error to his fate, 

They all consented ; 

But viewing him since, alas ! too late, 

They have repented. 

And have sought to give birth 

In booths to sleep him ; 

But being much too good for earth, 

Heaven vow'd to keep him." 

Ben Jonson's Works. 

In 1614 King James took to his new favourite, (Villiers,) 
whom, through every gradation of title-making, he regularly 
advanced up to the Dukedom of Buckingham. As this contemp- 
tible thing was made up of a mixture of finery, foppery, and 
effemincy, the best way he could take to show off himself was 
by dancing,* so he made the court almost a constant scene of 
balls and masques. There were no royal concerts during this 
reign. The masques were principally got up and arranged by 
Buckingham and Ben Jonson ; the talent displayed in these 
pageants being, of course, by the poet. 

Burnet, in his " History of his Own Times," says : " At this 
time the court fell into much extravagance in masquerading : 
both king and queen, and all the court, went about masked, 
and came into houses unknown, and danced there with a great 
deal of wild frolic." 

As this species of entertainment is not now in fashion, I will 

* " It was common for him, at an ordinary dancing, to have his clothes 
trimmed with great diamond buttons, and to have diamond hat-bands, cock- 
ades, and ear-rings ; and to be yoked with great and manifold ropes and 
knots of pearls ; in short, to be manacled, fettered, and imprisoned in jewels." 

26* 



306 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

give the following account of one from Nugae Antiquoe, first 
premising that a masque is a sort of play in which the Chris- 
tian religion, the heathen mythology, and low buffoonery are 
strangely mixed together, and is always got up expressly for 
the occasion for Y/hich it is to be performed. The royal family 
and sorpe of the nobility were often the actors, and frequently 
many of the scholars from the public schools were introduced to 
swell up the j)ageantry. 

Sir John Harrington, " with subtil pensil, thus peinted down 
this story " to a friend in the country during the visit of Chris- 
tian IV., King of Denmark, in 1606 : " A great feast was held, 
and after dinner the representation of Solomon, his Temple, and 
the coming of the Queen of Sheba was made, or, I may better 
say, was meant to have been made, before their majesties, by 
device of the Earl of Salisbury and others. The lady who 
played the queen's part did carry most precious gifts to both 
their majesties, but, forgetting the steps arising to the canopy, 
overset her cakes into his Danish majesty's lap and fell at his 
feet : much was the hurry and confusion ; cloths and napkins 
were at hand to make all clean. His majesty then got up, and 
would dance with the Queen of Sheba ; but he fell down and 
humbled himself before her, and was carried to an inner cham- 
ber and laid on a bed of state, which was not a little defiled 
with the presents of the queen, which had been bestowed on 
his garments, such as wine, cream, cakes, spices, and other 
good matters. The entertainment and show went forward, and 
most of the presentors went backward and fell down, wine did 
so occupy their upper chambers. Now did appear, in rich 
dresses. Faith, Hope, and Charity. Hope did essay to speak, 
but wine rendered her endeavours so feeble that she withdrew, 
and hoped the king would excuse her brevity. Faith was then 
alone, for I am certain she was not joined with good works, 
and left the court in a staggering condition. Charity came to 
the king's feet and seemed to cover the multitude of sins her 
sisters had committed in some parts : she made obeisance and 
brought gifts, but said she would return home again, as there 
was no gift which heaven had not already given to his majesty. 

She then returned to Faith and Hope, who were both sick 

in the lower hall. Next came Victory in bright armour, and, 
by a strange medley of versification, did endeavour to make 
suit to the king ; but Victory did not triumph long, for, after 
much lamentable utterance, she was led away like a silly cap- 
tive, and laid to sleep on the outer steps of the ante-chamber. 
Now Peace did make entrance and strive to get foremost to the 
king ; but 1 grieve to tell how great wrath she did discover 
unto those of her attendants, and., much contrary to her sem 



COURT AMUSEMENTS. 307 

blance, most rudely made war with her olive branch, and laid 
oh the pates of those who did oppose her coming." 

Such is an account of a royal masque. There was a 
splendid one got up in 1610, when Prince Henry was created 
Prince of Wales, in which the lord mayor and corporation of 
London participated. 

One was given in 1633, to King Charles I. on his return 
from his progress into Scotland, by those learned sages of 
the law, the gentlemen of the Four Inns of Court, which cost 
i22 1,000. It is a specimen of the taste and manners of 
this period. 

" The masquers, musicians, and all who were actors, met on 
candlemass day in the afternoon, at Ely House, where the 
committee of management sat all day, and in the evening they 
set forward in the following order down Chancery-lane to 
Whitehall: 

" The march began with twenty footmen in scarlet liveries 
trimmed with silver lace, each having his sword, a baton in 
ojie hand and a lighted torch in the other. These were the 
marshals' men, who cleared the streets, and were about the 
marshals, waiting their commands. After them came Mr. 
Darrel, of Lincoln's Inn, the prime marshal, mounted upon one 
of the king's best horses and richest saddle. He was magnifi- 
cently dressed, and, besides his marshal's men, had two lackeys 
who carried torches, and a page, in livery, carrying his cloak. 

" Ha was followed by one hundred of the handsomest young 
gentlemen of the Four Inns, twenty-five chosen out of each ; 
all of them mounted with the best horses and best furniture 
from the king's stables. These gentlemen were so richly 
dressed that scarcely anything but gold and silver could be seen ; 
and every one of them had two lackeys in his own livery, 
carrying torches by his side, and a page carrying his cloak. 
These gentlemen had about a dozen trumpeters, in livery, 
sounding before them. 

" After this noble troop came the anti-masquers, preceded 
by the sound of keys and tongs played in concert. The first 
anti-masque consisted of beggars and cripples mounted on the 
poorest jades that could be got out of dust-carts or elsewhere ; 
a change which, from the nobleness of the music, the fineness 
of the horses, and the magnificent appearance of the gentlemen, 
afforded a very odd and surprising contrast ; the habits and 
everything of these cripples and beggars being ingeniously 
fitted by the direction of the commissioners, among whom 
were Mr. Attorney General Noy, Sir John Finch, Sir Edward 
Herbert, and Mr. Selden. 

<' After the beggars' anti-masque came men on horseback, 



308 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

playing upon pipes, whistles, and instruments, imitating the' 
notes of all sorts of birds, and playing in excellent concert. 

" These were followed by an anti-masque of birds, consisting 
of an owl in an ivy bush, with many sorts of birds in a cluster 
gazing upon her. These were little boys put in covers in the 
shape of those birds, nicely fitted, sitting on small horses, with 
footmen going before them with torches in their hands, and 
others to look after them, to prevent their falling. 

"After this anti-masque came other musicians on horseback,' 
playing upon bag-pipes and other kinds of northern music^ to 
show that the fallowing projectors were Scots ; and these, like 
the rest, had many footmen with torches waiting on them. 

" First in this anti-masque rode a fellow upon a little horse 
with a great bit in his mouth, carrying upon his head a bit 
with a head-stall and reins ; a projector who begged a patent, 
that none in the kingdom might ride their horses without such 
bits, which they should buy of him. 

" Then came another fellow with a capon upon his fist, 
and a bunch of carrots, representing a projector who begged 
a monopoly as the first inventor of the art of feeding capons 
upon carrots. 

" Several other projectors were personated in this anti- 
masque, which pleased the spectators more because informa- 
tion was thus covertly given to the king of the unfitness and 
ridiculousness of these projects against the law. (Queen 
Elizabeth, although she granted many obnoxious patents of 
monopoly, used to call them ' harpies and horse-leeches. '') 

" After this, and the rest of the anti-masques, came six of 
the chief musicians on horseback upon foot-cloths, and in the 
habits of heathen priests, footmen carrying torches by their 
sides. These were followed by a large, open chariot drawn by 
six fine horses, with large plumes of feathers on their heads 
and cruppers. In this chariot were about a dozen persons in 
the habits of gods and goddesses, many footmen walking on 
both sides with torches. 

" This chariot was followed by six more of the musicians on 
horseback, dressed and attended with torch-bearers, proceeding 
before another large, open chariot drawn by six horses, with 
feathers, liveries, and torches : within it were twelve musicians 
as variously dressed as the others, to represent, like them, pagan 
deities. These chariots were made for the occasion, and, pre- 
ceding the grand masquers' chariots, played upon excellent 
music all the way, 

" After this chariot came six more musicians, dressed and 
attended like the former, followed by the first chariot of the 
grand masquers, which was not so large as those that pre- 



VrfATIrfg COURT AMUSEMENTS. 309 

ceded it, but curiously carved and painted. It was in the form 
of a Roman triumphal chariot, and richly painted, with crimson 
and silver all over, not excepting the wheels. It was drawn 
by four horses all abreast, covered to the heels with crim- 
son and silver tissue, and with huge plumes of red and white 
feathers on their heads and cruppers. The coachman's cap 
and feathers, his long coat, his cushion, and his very whip 
were of the same stuff and colour. In this sat the four grand 
masquers of Gray's Inn, who were handsome young gentlemen. 
Their habits, doublets, trunk hose, and caps were of the 
richest tissue, covered as thick with spangles as they could be, 
conveniently ; large white silk stockings extending up to their 
trunk hose, and very fine sprigs in their caps. 

'^ On each side of the chariot were four footmen, in liveries 
of the colour of the chariot, carrying huge flambeaux, which, 
with the torches, gave the greatest lustre to the paintings, 
spangles, and habits. 

" After this chariot came six more musicians in habits like 
the former, followed by the second chariot, which differed only 
from the former in its being painted blue, gilted with silver. 
The chariot and horses were covered with tissue of blue and 
silver, as the former v/as with crimson and silver. 

" In this second triumphal chariot were four grand masquers 
of the Middle Temple, in the same habits as the other 
masquers, and had the like attendance, with torches and flam- 
beaux like the former. 

" After these followed the third and fourth triumphal chariots, 
with six musicians between each ; both they and their horses 
dressed as before. The triumphal chariots were all of the 
same make, and alike carved and painted, only differing in their 
colours. In the third of these chariots rode the grand masquers 
of the Inner Temple, and in the fourth those of Lincoln's Inn, 
each taking the place assigned them by lot. 

" In this order they proceeded to Whitehall, where the king 
and queen, from a window of the banqueting house, beheld this 
procession, and were so delighted with it that the king sent 
to desire the marshal to take a turn round the tilt-yard, that 
he and his consort might have a second view of this pompous 
procession ; which being accordingly performed, they entered 
the palace, and were conducted to several apartments prepare.r 
for their entertainment, where the ladies of honour, and even 
the queen herself, danced with the principal masquers. 

" With this fine cavalcade her majesty was so delighted 
that she desired to have it repeated, which being intimated 
to the lord mayor, he invited the king and queen, with the 
above masquers, to an entertainment in Merchant Taylors' 



310 THE SOCIAL HISTORY OP GREAT BRITAIN. 

Hall. They came in procession into the city in exactly the 
same order, and with equal splendour, as at Whitehall."* 

The masques were the preludes to operas. 

Pope says " The Siege of Rhodes " was the first opera sung 
in England, 1656, at Rutland House, got up by Sir. William 
Davenant. 

In 1692 there was an advertisement in the London Gazette 
announcing " an Italian lady that is come over, and is so famous 
a singer that she will sing at York Buildings on the 10th of 
January, and during the season." 

In 1702 a concert of Italian singers, in York Buildings, lately 
come from Rome. They progressed by slow degrees, in the 
form of intermezzi or Italian interludes, made up of singing and 
dancing. It next appeared in a mixed state — the music Italian, 
the text translated. In 1707 an entire opera, in which Urbani 
(a male soprano) and two foreign women sang in Italian, while 
the other parts were sung in English words. In 1710, all pre- 
judices having evaporated, " Almahide," wholly in Italian, and 
performed by foreign singers only, was successfully brought 
out at the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket. 

This success led afterward to the introduction of Handel. 

Spring Gardens, afterward Vauxhall, a place for singing 
English operas and dancing on summer evenings in the open 
air, was visited by Evelyn in 1661. 

- Ranelagh, on the Westminster side of the Thames, for the 
liigh nobility, began about 1742 as a sort of rival to Vauxhall. 

The first regular series of concerts was under the academy of 
ancient music, in 1710. 

Sadler's Wells began at the close of the seventeenth century, 
by a person named Sadler : after him it was continued by Fran- 
cis Foster. Scenic representations, with water, music, singing, 
and dancing, are exhibited there. 

It is commonly stated that the first English concert was began 
by Thomas Britton, who supported himself by keeping a coal 
cellar. He died in 1714. It was, I presume only a revival. 
There were music clubs, or private meetings for the prac- 
tice of music, which were very fashionable with people of 
opulence. In " The Citizen turned Gentleman," a comedy by 
Edward Ravenscroft, 1675, the citizen is told that, in order to 
appear like a person of consequence, it was necessary he should 
" have a music club once a week at his own house." 

The first two persons of any musical education were Rein- 
hold and Beard, in Handel's time, (reign of George I.) 

* Whitlock's Memoirs. 



APPENDIX. 

^* E PLURIEUS UNUN." 
No. I.— SETTLEMENT OF THE STATES OF U. S. 



311 



Dates. 


States. 


Oldest Towns. 


Natio'19. 


1565 


Florida. 


St. Augustine. 


Spanish. 


1607 


Virginia. 


Jamestown. 


English. 


1614 


New York. 


Albany. 


Dutch. 


1620 


Massachusetts. 


Plymouth. 


English. 


1623 


New Hampshire. 


Dover. 


do 


1624 


New Jersey. 


Bergen. 


Danes. 


1627 


Delaware. 


Cape Henlopen. 


Swedes and Fins. 


1630 


Maine. 


York. 


Englisli. 


1633 


Connectirut. 


Windsor. 


do 


1634 


Maryland. 


St. Mary. 


do 


1636 


Rhode Island. 


Providence. 


do 


1650 


North Carolina. 


Albermarle. 


do 


1670 


South Carolina. 


Port Royal. 


do 


1670 


Michigan. 


Detroit. 


French. 


1682 


Pennsylvania. 


Philadelphia. 


Englisli 


1683 


Illinois. 


Kaskaskia. 


Frenck 


1685 


Arkansas. 


Arkansas Port. 


do 


1690 


Indiana. 


Vincennes. 


do 


1699 


Louisiana. 


Iberville. 


do 


1702 


Alabama. 


Fort near Mobile. 


do 


1716 


Mississippi. 


Natchez. 


do 


1723 


Vermont. 


Fort Dummer. 


English. 


1738 


Georgia. 


Savannah. 


do 


1756 


Tennessee. 


Fort London. 


do 


1763 


Missouri. 


St. Genevieve. 


French. 


1775 


Kentucky. 


Broomsburgh. 


( Daniel Boone, from 

\[ Virginia. 


1788 


Ohio. 


Marietta. 


( Emigration from 
i New Eng!and. 


Those colonies which are now c 


ailed British, began as fol 


lows : 


1583 Newfoundland. 
1623 Nova Scotia. 
1630 New Brunswick. 


1670 Hudson's Bay and 

1758 Cape Breton. 

1759 Upper and Lower 


North West Territory. 
Canada. 



312 



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APPENDIX. 



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APPENDIX. 31* 

No. III. — Population, 
Text, p. 13. 

Colqhuon, in his Essays, states : " A survey of the people was made in the 
reign of Henry VIII., but the account is lost." 

Burton, in his " Anatomy of Melancholy," refers to Bede, Leland, ant 
some others, for a large population in former times. 



No. IV. — Pkovisions and Labour. 

Text, p. 17. 

From the reign of Elizabeth, when, in the language of various writers, 
" ingenuities began to flourish in England," to the accession of Charles XL, 
1660, few improvements of much moment took place in the common arts 
of hfe. In agriculture^ gardening, and manufactures England was surpassetj 
by several other countries, particularly by Holland and the Netherlands. 
These were the most industrious countries in Europe, and their populatior 
had been longer trained in those habits of order which are essential to com^ 
mercial and manufacturing pre-eminence. The writers complain, on tht 
contrary, of the working population of England as " idle, stubborn, and surly;' 
and it would appear that they disliked habits of continued labour. As thej 
could live easily, this was likely ; and that, as a poet of the time, in speaking 
of their habits, writes^ 

" The sum of all their vanity to deck, 
With some bright bell, some fav'rite heifer's neck,'' 

is equally as likely when they went rush-gathering, or upon some othei 
social customary frolic. 

Hence they were less skilful and ingenious than the artisans of othej 
countries ; and the manufactories were neither so well finished nor, in manj 
places, so cheap as theirs ; although at this period provisions were as low, 
or perhaps lower, in price there than on the continent. A paper published 
1651, on the state and condition of things between the English and Dutch 
nations, says : " The price of labour depending much upon the price of 
victuals, house rent, and other necessaries, it is certain (especially to any 
who know both countries) that all this is much cheaper with us than with 
our neighbours, and is likely so to be." Great encouragement was given 
to aliens who brought " new and profitable trades into use," or whc 
instructed people therein. 

The following extract, from "Ancient Trades Decayed," published in 1677 
will perhaps be interesting to those readers of the present day who have r- 
practical knowledge of the woollen manufacture. It is there stated tha 
" every two pounds of wool, which is worth about twenty pence, will mak 
a yard of kersey, worth about five or six shillings ; and every four pounds o 
wool, worth about three shillings and four pence, will make a yard of broac 
cloth, worth eleven or twelve shillings." From inquiries which I hav 
recently made, I suppose not half the quantity is now used. 



314 - APPENDIX. 

No. V. 
Text, p. 19. 

Cobbett says, *' Hogs clWer so much in their propensity to fatten, that U 
•js difficult to calculate about tbem : but this is a veyy good rule : When you 
see a fat hog, and know how many scores (201bs.) be will weigh, set down 
to his account a sack (half a quarter, or four bushels)of barley for every score 
of his weight ; for, let him have been educated (as the French call it) as he 
may, this will be about the real cost of him when he is fat. A sack of barley 
will make a score of bacon, and it will not make more." The barley 
must be ground into meal ; for barley whole will not feed a hog at all. 

I should like to see an experiment tried whether, bushel for bushel, the 
m-aize or Indian corn is better feed for hogs than English barley. The 
English barley, from the effects of that climate, is longer coming to maturity, and 
is, therefore, about ten pounds per bushel heavier than what is grown here. 
The trial, tkerefore, should be made there, or with English grown barley. 

There is no better pork m the world than American pork, which is fed on 
corn ; and I know it will make good veal, for in the year 1836 there was 
slaughtered, by Mr. John Philips, in Clinton Market, a calf eight months old, 
weight six hundred pounds. It cost, alive, one hundred dollars : it was the 
fattest, the whitest, and the most delicate-looking veal ever seen, and which 
had never any more milk than what its mother gave it, with as much corn 
meal besides as it could eat. 

An experiment was tried some years past by an estensive coach pro- 
prietor, at Southampton, in England, whether the Indian corn was good feed 
for coach-horses, and it was found that, bulk for bulk, the horses did not 
stand their work so well as if they had been fed with horse beans. 



No. VI. — Revenue. 
Text, p. 27. 

Estimates by Sir John Sinclair, Bart., of the peace establishment, since 
the revolution of 1688 : 

During the reign of William III, £1,&07,455- 

do do Queen Anne, 1,965,607 

do do George I., 2,583,000 

do do George II., 2,766,000 

In the year 1770, George III., 4,322,972 

Expenses of the wars during William III.'s reign, 30,447,382 

do do do do Queen Anne's do 43,360,003 

do do do do George I.'s do 6,048,267 

do do war which began 1739, 46,418,689 

do do do do do 1756, 111,271,996 

do do American war, 139,171,876 

The armament that was to go to Nootka Sound agamst the Russians 

cost £311,385. 



APPENDIX. 



3 IS 



Ded&rcd vdue of the Exportation m the year ending 5th January. 

Ariicks. 1842. 1843. 

Coal and culm, £675,287 £733,574 

Cotton manufactures, 16,232,510 13,910,084- 

Cotton yarn, 7,266,968 7,752,676 

Earthenware, 600,759 554,221 

Qlass, 421,936 310,061 

Hardwares and cutlery, 1,623,961 1,392,888 

Linen manufactures, 3,347,555 2,360,152 

Linen yarn, 972,468 1,023,978 

Metals, viz. :— Ir<Jn and steel, '2,877,278 2,453,892 

Copper aad brass, 1,523,744 1,821,754 

Lead, 242,334 357,377 

Tin in bars, &c., 86,574 199,911 

Tin plates, ^68,709 348,236 

Salt, 175,615 206,639 

Silk manufactures, 788,894 589,644 

Sugar refined, 548,338 439,335 

Wool, sheep or lambs', 555,620 510,965 

Woollen yarfl, 552,148 573,521 

Woollen manufactures, S,748,6?3 5,199,243 

Total, £44,609,358 £40,738,151 
The chancellor of the exchequer stated in the English house of commons, 

"" f, 1843, The gross income was £50,150,000 

The gross expenditure, 49,387,000 



No. VIL — Army. 
Text, p. 36. 
The army, as it now stands, though some of th-e establishments were 
formed by Charles IL, taken from corps during the civil wars, are the First 
Regiment of Foot and the Coldstream Regiment o( the Guards : the Royal 
Regiment of the Horse Guards and Oxford Blues are among the first of that 
establishment. The regular array established by this monarch consisted at 
first of little more than five thou&and, including garrisons abroad. In 1684 
it amounted to ei^ht thousand ; that on the Irish establishment having been 
at the same time augmented to seven thousand. During the successive 
reigns the army was much increased, the nation being much engaged in 
continental v^ars. Under George I. the forces rated by parliament amounted 
to sixteen thousand. The standing array was much aiagmented during the 
following reign, on account of foreign wars and internal disturbances. At 
the conclusion of the American contest the forces were reduced to about 
forty thousand m.-sn for Great Britain. The peace establishment in 1802 
consisted of 128,999, including seventeen thousand cavalry, six regiments 
«f colour in the West Indies amp.urjtLng to 4158, and the foreign Swiss 
corps^ estimated at 5530. 



No. VIII. — Cromweli,. 
Text, p. 45. 
In Spence's Anecdotes it is related that " £60,000 was offered to 
Cromwell for the privilege of having a synagogue. He appointed thera 



316 APPENDIX. 

a day for his giving them an answer. He then sent to some of the chief 
merchants in the city, and the most powerful among the clergy, to be 
present at the meeting in the long gallery at Whitehall. When they all 
met he ordered the Jews to speak for themselves. x\fter that he turned to the 
clergy, who inveighed much against the Jews as a cruel and accursed people. 
Cromwell, in his answer to the clergy, called the Jews " men of God," and 
desired to be informed whether it was not their opinion that they (the Jews) 
were to be called, in the fulness of time, into the church. He then desired 
to know whether it was not every Christian man's duty to forward that 
(rood end all he could. Then he flourished a good deal on religion pre- 
vailing in the nation, the only place in the world where religion was taught 
in its full purity : was it not, then, our duty in particular to encourage them 
to settle where they could be taught the truth 1 This silenced the clergy. 
He then turned to the merchants, who spoke of their falseness and mean- 
ness, and that they would get their trade from them. "And can you really 
be afraid," says he, " that this mean, despised people should be able to 
prevail in trade and credit over the merchants of England — the noblest 
and most esteemed merchants in the world 1" Thus he went on until 
he silenced them too, and so was at liberty to grant what he desired 
to the Jews." 

Perhaps it may not be considered much out of place if I give the statistics 
of this ancient race. When in Judea, in the height of their prosperity 
it is supposed they only numbered about 4,000,000. There are now esti- 
mated to be in Europe, 1,916,000 ; in Asia, 738,000 ; in Africa, 504,000 ; 
in America, North and South, 57,000 ; in Australasia, also a few ; so that, 
taking the whole together, they appear to remain at about the same amount : 
surely there is something here very different than the ordinary arrange- 
ments of mere mortal man. They number at the present time in Great 
Britain about 30,000, twenty out of that number residing in London 



No. IX. — Architecture. 
Text, p. 75. 

The dimensions of some of the noble buildings erected during these reigns 
vere large, and the pleasure-grounds and walks beautiful and extensive. . I 
vill give the following merely as a sample, and which are still kept up with 
reat taste : 

The front of Stowe, the seat of the Duke of Buckingham, including the 
ings, is 916 feet : the entrance saloon is oval, 60 feet by 43 : the library 

75 feet long by 25 wide. The gardens and pleasure-grounds occupy 
00 acres. 

The gallery at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, the walls covered withbeauti- 
li pictures, is 162 feet long. 

The great hall at Knole, in Kent, is 27 feet high, 74 long, and 20 broad. 

I'he front of Holkham, in Norfolk, the seat of the (late Mr. Coke) Earl 
"»f Ijeicester, is 345 feet long and 180 feet deep. The saloon is 42 feet 
'y 27 feet. 

Blickiing Hall, in the same county, the seat of the Earl of Suffield, the 
Irawing-room is 42 feet long, 22 wide, and 25 high. The deer-park is 1000 
•icres, in which is a race-course, and a sheet of water one mile long and 
'"our hundred yards wide. 

Blenheim, in Oxfordshire, built for the Duke of Marlborough, in Queen 
Anne's reign ; the front is 850 feet long, and, with the stabling and other 
necessary out- buildings, covers seven acres. 



APPENDIX 



317 



Table of public buildings most worthy of notice for their architecture, 
built in these reigns ;* 

Date. Architect. Remarks. 

I Chiefly admired as the 
"Whitehall Chapel, 1609 Inigo Jones, < finest specimen of pure 

{ Italian, 
York Stairs' Water-gate, 1626 do ( rp „ ,- . , • ,• 

St. Paul's, Covent Garden, 1631 do \ ^"^"^^^ "^'^^^^^ ^" ''"^'^• 

Temple Bar, 1670-2 Wren, 

rru TVT i. ler/t iv 3 \ Fluted Doric column, total 

The Monument, 1671-7 do \ height, 202 feet. 

St. Stephen's, Walbrook, 1672-9 do j Clue% remarkable for its 

o^ T> i> ri *u J I itf-rc J ( Extreme length, 500 feet, 

St. Paul's Cathedral, 1675 do | height, 360 f^et. 

do do finished, 1710 Style, Italo-Roman. 

Comparative chronology of English and French medieval architecture.! 

English. Years. French. 

950^ 

iOOO > Romanesque. 

1050 S 

Norman, ) 1 150 S - - - ■ - Transition. 

Early English, | {250 1 Primordial Gothic. 

Decorated English, \ ||^^ \ 1st Epoch, \ Secondary or Gothic. 

/ 1400 ) o J J i Rayonaunt. 

Perpendicular, <j ^g^^ j^^ ^^ Tertiary or Gothic. 

^1550 2d do Flamboyant. 



No. X. — -Gardening. 
Text, p. 96. 
Sir Anthony Ashley, who died 1627, introduced the cabbage plant. He was 
buried in the church of Winborne, St. Giles, in Dorsetshire ; and, to comme- 
morate the circumstance, a cabbage is sculptured on his tomb at his feet. 



No. XT. — Agriculture. 
Text, p. 102. 
** There are now employed thirteen steam engines, combining together 
six hundred and forty horse power, in draining 85,300 acres. The engines 
are required to work four months out of the twelve. The cost is about two 
shillings and sixpence per acre : the first cost is about twenty shillings per 
acre for machinery and buildings. Before steam was used the work was 
performed by seventy- five windmills, t 



» From Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal, March, 1838. 
t Lincoln paper. 

27* 



t Ibid, 



318 APPENDIX. 

No. XII. COTTAQES. 

Text, p. no. 
The quantity of land ordained by the Saxons for each man's allotment wai, 
six acres for wheat, six for barley, six for oats, six for hay, six for pasture, 
six for dwelling, barn-yard, and garden ; in all, thirty-six acres. 



No. XIII— Mines. 

Text p. 120. 

The following additional account of the products and value of the mines 
in general, on an average of years ending 1838, is copied from the " Mining 
Review:" 

Weight. Value. 

Silver, 10,000 lbs. Troy. £30,000 

Copper, 13,000 Tuns. 1,300,000 

Tin, 5,500 " 550,000 

Iron, 900,000 <' 7,000,000 

Lead, 46,000 " 950.000 

Salt, Alum, and other produce, rather more than 1,000,000 

As PENCILS are in much use in this Union, perhaps the following account of 
the material from which they are made, and the mine from which it is pro- 
duced, may be interesting : 

The mineral substance from which black lead is nranufactured has 
successively been known by the several nances of wad, black-cawke, black 
lead, plumbago, and graphite. The names of plumbago and black lead, 
although still retained in common use, tend to convey an erroneous idea of 
the subject, as lead forms no part of its composition, which is found to be 
principally carbon combined with a small portion of iron ; and graphite, per- 
haps the least objectionable term, has scarcely yet obtained cjrrency. 

The mineral occurs in various parts of the world, and in rocks of different 
formation ; but in no place has it been met with equal in purity to that pro- 
duced from Borrowdale, in Cumberland, where it lies in a rock of interme- 
diate formation. 

We have no account of the first discovery or opening of this mine ; but, 
from a conveyance made in the beginning of the seventeenth century, it 
appears to have been known before that time. The Manor of Borrowdale is 
said to have belonged to the Abbey of Furness ; and having, at the dissolu- 
tion of that monastery, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, fallen to the Crown, 
it v/as granted by James the First to William Whitmore and Jonas Verdon, 
including and particularizing, among other things, " the wad-holes and xvad, 
commonly called black-cawke, within the commons of SeatoUer, or elsewhere 
within any of the wastes or commons of the said manor, now or late in the 
tenure or occupation of Rodger Hobinson, or his assigns, by the particulars 
thereof mentioned to be of the yearly rent or value of fifteen shillings and 
four pence." By a deed bearing date the twenty-eighth day of November, 
1614, ihe said William Whitmore and Jonas Verdon sold and conveyed unto 
Sir Wilfred Lawson, of Isel, Kiiio-ht, and several others therein named to the 
number of thirly-si.x, chiefly inhabitants of Borrowdale, " all the said Manor 
of Borrowdale, with the appurtenances of what nature or kind soever, ex- 
cepted and reserved unto the said William Whitmore and Jonas Verdon, 
their heirs and assigns, all those wad-holes and wad, commonly called black- 
cawke, within the commons of SeatoUer, or elsewhere within the commons 



APPENDIX. X 319 

aiid wastes of the Manor of Borrowdale aforesaid, with liberty to dig, work, 
and carry the same. 

The mine is situated about nine miles from Keswick, near the head of the 
Valley of Borrowdale, on the steep side of a mountain, facing toward the 
south-east, and has been opened at different places were the wad probably 
appeared on the surface. 

Formerly this mine was worked only at intervals, and, when a sufficient 

quantity had been procured to supply the demand for a few years, it was 

strongly closed up until the stock was reduced ; but of late it has been 

btained less plentifully, and the demand being greater, the working has 

)een continued for several years successively. 

An old level, which was reopened in 1769, was found to have been cut 
through this very hard rock without the help of gunpowder ; and a kind of 
pipe-vein, which had pvbdcced a great quantity of wad, having been pursued 
to the depth of oae hundred yards or more, mach inconvenience was ex- 
perienced in working it: to obviate which, in 1798 an adit or level was 
begun in the side of the hill, which, at the length of 220 yards, communicates 
with the bottom of the former sinking ; since which time the works have 
been carried on internally through various ramifications ; a survey of which 
was made a few years since by the late Mr. Farey. Through this principal 
level the water now passes off, and the produce and rubbish are brought out 
upon a railway irt a small wagon ; and over its mouth a house is built, 
where the workmen are undressed and examined as they pass through it on 
leaving their work. 

Owing to the great value of this mineral, and the facilities aflfordsd for dis- 
posing of it in an unmanufactured state, the greatest precaution has sometimes 
been found scarcely sufficient to keep the workman from pilfering, and those 
appointed to overlook them have not always escaped suspicion. 

To prevent the depredations of intruders, it has sometimes been necessary 
to keep a strong guard upon the place ; and, for its better protection, an act 
'of parliament was passed, 25th Geo. II., cap. 10th, by which an unlawful 
entering of any mine, or wad-hole of wad, or black-cawke, commonly called 
black lead, or unlawfully taking or carrying away any wad, &c., therefrom, 
as also the buying or receiving the same, knowing it to be unlawfully taken, 
is made felony. 

Black lead is used for various purposes, but its principal use is the manu- 
facture of pencils, for which Keswick has long been famed. It was formerly 
used without any previous preparation, being only cut with a saw to the 
scantlings required, and thus enclosed in a suitable casing of cedar wood : 
but generally, being too soft for some purposes, a method of hardening it 
had long been a desideratum ; and a process has at length been discovered, 
by which it may be rendered capable of bearing a finer and more durable 
point. 

The specific gravity of the best wad, or black lead, is to that of water as 
two to one nearly : the coarser kind is heavier in proportion, as it contains 
more stony matter. It comes from the mine in pieces of irregular shape 
and various sizes, requiring no process to prepare it for the market farther 
than freeing the pieces from any stony or extraneous matter which may 
adhere to them. It is then assorted according to the different degrees of 
purity and size, and thus packed in casks, to be sent off to the warehouse in 
London, where it is exposed to sale only on the first Monday in every month. 

In the year 1803, after a tedious search, one of the largest bellies was 

fallen in with, which produced five hundred casks, weighing about one 

lundred and a quarter each, and worth thirty shillings a pound and upward ; 

besides a greater quantity of inferior sorts ; and since then several smaller 

ops have been met with. In the year 1829 a sop produced about half a 



320 APPENDIX. 

dozen casks, the best part of which was eagerly bought up at thirty- five 
shillings a pound. For three or four years the quantity raised was trifling ; 
but in 1833 they succeeded in filling a few casks, the best part of which has 
been sold at forty-five shillings a pound. 

By an account published in 1804, the stock then on hand was valued at 
£54,000, and the annual consumption stated to be about £3,500. This 
afforded a clue to the assessors of the property tax, which soon after came 
into operation ; and this mine — which 200 years ago had been valued at 
^fteen shillings and four pence — ^was accordingly rated at £2,700.* 



No. XIV.— Tea. 
Foot-note, p. 148. 

Tea imported into the United States from 1839 to 1840 was, 19,337,5271bs. 
do do do 1841 to 1842, 13,500,337 " 



No. XV. — Emigration. 
Text, p. 159. 

The policy now pursued is contrary to that of all ages, *' It was an opinion 
of Solomon that the riches of princes consist in the multitudes of their 
subjects, "t 

England is not only losing (if Solomon's opinion is correct) by dissipating 
her riches in the mere persons, but is also losing an annual drain of about 
£5,000,000, which is paid to from twenty-four to twenty-five thousand 
absentees scattered over France and other parts of Europe. 

The following table will show the full amount of emigration to all parts 
of the world during the year 1842 : 

From England, , 74,683 

Scotland, , , 13, 1 08 

Ireland, 40,553 

128,344 

The parts of the world to which they went were the following : 

To the United States, ,,, ,.. 63,852 

Texas, Central America, and Buenos Ayres, 363 

Canada, 41,375 

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward's Island, &g., 12,748 

West Indies, 813 

The Cape of Good Hope, ......,.....,., . . . , . , 587 

Western Africa, Mauritius, and Falkland Isles, 69 

Sydney, 1,450 

Port Philip, .,.,...,, 864 

Van Dieman's Land, 2,448 

South Australia, ^..^ 145 

West Australia, 566 

NewZealand, 3,064 

128,344 
Four-fifths of the Irish emigrants went to the British North American 

♦ Cumberland Pacquet. t Brown's " Vulgar Errors." 



APPENDIX 



321 



Colonies ; the largest proportion of the Scotch went to Canada and Nova 
Scotia ; and five-sevenths of the English to the United States. 

Of the emigrants, 1,608 were assisted from the poor-rates, 2,341 from 
funds supplied by the Commissioners of Colonial Lands and Emigration, and 
982 from bounties paid m New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land. In 
1841 the number of emigrants was, 

FromEngland, 72,104 

Scotland, 14,060 

Ireland, 32,592 

118,756 

The number of emigrants in i842 was greater than in 1841 by 10,000, and 
exceeds in a much higher proportion that for any previous year. Its extent 
is, indeed, unparalleled and astounding, amounting to no less than four thou- 
sand souls per diem, excluding Sundays. Its direction also has undergone 
a material change. In 1841 the emigrants to Australia and New Zealand 
amounted to 32,550. The removal of so great a number of persons, most 
of them belonging to the working classes, must have had a considerable effect 
in lightening the pressure on the market for labour ; but the return does not 
mable us to state what proportion the women and children bore to the 
len.* > 



No. 


XVI. — State op Education, t 
Text, p. 181. 






Total of children 


In schools 


Counties. 


under daily 


established 




instruction. 


by Dissenters, 


Bedford, 


6,632 


283 


Berks, 


16,574 


120 


Buckingham, 


10,834 


42 


Cambridge, 


15,269 


343 


Chester, 


32,139 


1,308 


Cornwall, 


31,629 


249 


Cumberland, 


21,531 


225 


Derby, 


21,508 


334 


Devon, 


54,971 


1,076 


Dorset, 


18,158 


394 


Durham, 


30,656 


550 


Essex, 


32,977 


1,235 


Gloucester, 


32,274 


1,272 


Hereford, 


8,815 


218 


Hertford, 


14,752 


433 


Huntingdon, 


5,805 


153 


Kent, 


53,321 


844 


Lancaster, 


97,534 


9,284 


Leicester, 


19,267 


283 


Lincoln, 


38,124 


413 


Middlesex, 


101,220 


9,747 


Monmouth, 


6,645 


136 


Norfolk, 


35,428 


590 


Northampton, 


18,295 


392 


* Quebec Gazette. 


t Cambridge Chronicle, 1843. 



322 APPENDIX. 





Total of children 


Counties. 


ziruler daily 




instruction. 


Northumberland, 


24,582 


Nottingham, 


21,439 


Oxford, 


15,939 


Rutland, 


2,701 


Salop, 


12,179 


Somerset, 


35,891 


Southampton, 


38,733 


Stafford, 


35,710 


Suffolk, 


28,642 


Surrey, 


45,915 


Sussex, 


32,877 


Warwick, 


26,041 


Westmoreland, 


7,256 


Wilts, 


20,375 


Worcester, 


17,858 


York, East-Riding, 


20,406 


City and Ainsty, 


4,324 


Nonh-Riding, ' 


22,825 


West-Riding, 


73,932 


Total, 


1,222,137 



In schools 

established 

by Dissenters. 

461 
1,134 

637 
12 

580 
1,260 
1,562 
2,079 

390 
2,146 
1,637 
1,116 

795 

285 
1,000 

257 

555 

387 
2,170 



48,470 



No. XVII.—Churches. 
Text, p. 237. 

In the olden time, long before the house of Durham was suppressed, the 
Abbey Church, and all the churchyard, and all the circuit thereof, was a 
sanctuary for any man that had committed any great offence, and fled to the 
church-door, knocking to have it opened. 

" There were certain men that did lie in two chambers over the said north 
door for the purpose that, when any such offenders did come and knock, 
straightway they were let in at any hour, and then they did run straightway 
to the Galilee bell, and did toll it to the intent that any man that heard it 
might know that some man had taken sanctuary ; and when the prior had 
intelligence thereof, he sent word and commanded them to have a gown 
of black cloth made, with a cross of yellow, called St. Cuthbert's cross, set 
on the shoulder of the left arm, to the intent that every one might see that 
there was such a privilege granted by God unto St. Cuthbert's shrine, for 
all such offenders to fly unto for succour, until such time as they might 
obtain their prince's pardon ; and likewise they had meat and drink, bedding, 
and other necessaries, for thirty-seven days, at the expense of the house, till 
such time as the prior could get them conveyed out of the diocess." 

At Beverley Minster, in Yorkshire, and at Hexham Abbey Church, Nor- 
thumberland, are ancient fridstools, being in the sanctuary ; to take a 
prisoner from which, in former days, was deemed an unpardonable crime 
by the church. In the latter abbey is a piece of sculpture within a niche, 
representing a hare squatted irf, her form, which is an appropriate emblem 
of the security of the sanctuary and the mode of attaining it — by speedy 
flight. There is also a human figure in sculpture, which seems to be an 
officer of justice, with his feet manaclpd and bare, which implies that within 
the bounds of the sanctuary he dare not do more toward his design. 



APPENDIX. didZ 

No. XVIII. — Funerals. 
Text, p. 249. 

The convention parliament, at the restoration of Charles II., ordered the 
graves of Cromwell, Ireton, and Bradshaw to be broken open ; the coffins 
were put upon hurdles and dragged to Tyburn ; there being pulled out of 
their coffins, the mouldering bodies were banged " at the several angles of 
that triple tree." " Their loathsome carcasses," as the court chronicler 
calls them, were thrown into a deep hole under the gallows ; their heads 
were set upon poles on the top of Westminster Hall. {Gesta Britamnorum, 
at the end of Wharton's Almanac, as quoted in Harris's Life of Cromwell.) 
It appears that ladies went to see this odious sight. That pleasant rogue, 
Pepys, who had been a great Roundhead and Cromwellian, and who in his 
youth had proposed that the proper text for a funeral sermon upon Charles I. 
would be " The memory of the wicked shall rot," mentions, with seeming 
complacency, that his pretty wife had been abroad with my Lady Batten, 
" seeing it." It was just three days before these brutalities that a procla- 
mation was read in all churches for the martyrdom of Charles I. Evelyn, 
who had a little more morality and decency than Pepys, though he is scarcely 
entitled to have the epithets of good and gentle so lavished upon him, makes 
this exulting entry in his diary : January 30th^— " This day were the car- 
casses of those arch-rebels, Cromwell, Bradshaw, the judge who condemned 
his majesty, and Ireton, son-in-law to the usurper, dragged out of their 
superb tombs in Westminster Abbey among the kings, to Tyburn, and 
hanged on the gallows there from nine in the morning till six at night, and 
then buried under that fatal and ignominious monument in a deep pit ; 
thousands who had seen them in all their pride being their spectators. Look 
back to Nov. 22d, 1658, (Oliver's funeral,) and be astonished, and fear God, 
and honour the king, and meddle not with them that are given to change." 



No. XIX.— Organs. 

Text, p. 283. 

Organs were common before the tenth century. St. Dunstan gave one 
to the Abbey of Malmesbury in the reign of Edgar, who came to the crown 
in 959, described in Saxon by Wulstan, a monk of Winchester in the tenth 
century ; thus translated by Mason in an essay on instrumental church music : 

" Twelve pair of bellows, ranged in stated row, 
Are joined above and fourteen more below ; 
These the full force of seventy men require, 
Whose ceaseless toils doth plenteously perspire, 
Each riding out till all the wind be press'd 
In the close confines of th' incumbent chest, 
On wkich four hundred pipes in order rise, 
To bellow forth the blast that chest supplies." 

Organs are mostly set at the west end of churches, and thus often hide a 
fine window : sometimes they are placed in the transept of the cathedrals, and 
thus destroy the fine vista through the centre. I have no doubt the pipes might 
be so arranged as to obviate these evils. 

In Norway they are commonly set over the altars. I was once in a Catholic 
chapel in Liverpool, and saw one thus placed,^ with, as I thought, a very fine 
effect. 

The organ at Hatiover Chapel, Regent-street, London, is placed over 
the altar. 

The one in St. Andrew's Church, Dublin, is placed behind the pulpit, and 
the communion-table be.^ore it. 



324 



APPENDIX. 



No. XX —CONTEMPORARY PRINCES. 
" Uneasy is the head that wears a crown." 



1603. 

1625. 
1649, 
1661. 
1685. 
1689. 

1703, 



1640. 
1656. 
1706. 



1700. 



1610. 
1643. 

ni5. 



and 



England. 

House of Stuart. 
James I., but VI 

of Scotland. 
Charles I. 
Cromwell. 
Charles II. 
James II. 
William III. 

Mary. 
Anne. 

PoT'tugal. 

John IV. " 
Alphonso VI. 
JohnV. 

Prussia. 
Frederick I. 

France. 

Louis XIII. 
Louis XIV. 
Louis XV, 



1687. 
1691. 
1695. 
1703. 



1621. 
1700. 



1604. 
1611. 
1632. 
1654. 
1697. 



1612. 
1619. 
1637. 
1688. 
1705. 



Turkey. 

Soliman III. 
Achmet II. 
Mustapha 11. 
Achmet III. 

Spain. 

Philip IV. 
Philip V. 

Sweden. 

Charles IX. 
Gust. Adolphus. 
Christian. 
Charles X. 
Charles XL 

Germany. 

Matthias 
Ferdinand II. 
Ferdinand III. 
Leopold I. 
Joseph I. 



Papal States. 

1605. Leo XL, Paul V 
Gregory XV. 



1621. 
1623. 
1644. 
1655. 
1689. 
1691. 
1700. 



1648. 
1699. 



1682 



Urban VIII. 
Innocent X. 
Alexander VII. 
Alexander VIII. 
Innocent XII. 
Clement XL 

Denmark. 

Frederick III. 
Christian VI. 



Russia. 



ac!f 



John III 
Peter I. 

1696. Peter the Grea'. 

Poland. 

Id74. John III. 

1697. Augustus II 
1704. Stanislaus' 



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